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Activity Book

Table of Contents
About EU Universe Awareness

Introductory Note

About Universe in a Box

Objectives & Goals


Audience
Approach
Handbook
Materials
Keys
Training
Credit

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7
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8
9
9
10
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Module 1: Our Fascinating Moon

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Introduction

12

1.1 Fact File on the Moon


1.2 Distance to the Moon
1.3 Lunar day
1.4 Lunar Landscape
1.5 Reflecting Moon
1.6 Lunar Phases Visualised
1.7 Lunar Phases Box Model
1.8 Lunar Phases in Action
1.9 Multicultural Moon
1.10 Moon Storytelling
1.11 Mini Research Project:
Revolution of the Moon and
Lunar Phases

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17
19
21
25
27
29
31
33
35
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Module 2: The Earth, Our Home


Planet

41

Introduction

42

2.1 Spherical Earth


2.2 Up or Down
2.3 Our Home Planet
2.4 Day and Night
2.5 Seasons
2.6 Solar Eclipse
2.7 Lunar Eclipse

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47
51
53
57
63
67

Module 3: The Sun, Our Home


Star

69

Introduction

70

3.1 Apparent Size


3.2 Invisible Light
3.3 Suns Shadow
3.4 Suns Path and a Sundial
3.5 Varying day lengths
3.6 Solar Surface
3.7 Mini Research Project: Suns
Rotation

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75
77
79
85
89
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Ideas for incorporating the Sun into


other subjects

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Module 4: Our Solar System

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Introduction

100

4.1 Know Your Planets


4.2 Solar System Model
4.3 Seeing Planets
4.4 Asteroids
4.5 Planetary Orbits
4.6 Distances and Paths
4.7 Journey to Planets
4.8 Lighter or Heavier

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109
111
115
119
123
127
131

Related Subject Ideas

133

Module 5: The World of


Constellations

135

Introduction

136

5.1 Visibility of the Constellations


5.2 The Zodiac and Planetary
Movements
5.3 Planisphere: A Turnable Star
Map
5.4 Constellation Shapes
5.5 Viewing Constellations
through Stories

Appendix

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143
145
149
153

157
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About EU-Universe Awareness


EU-Universe Awareness (EU-UNAWE) uses the beauty and grandeur of the Universe to
encourage young children, particularly those from underprivileged communities, to take
an interest in science and technology and to foster their sense of global citizenship from
an early age. In its few years of existence, the UNAWE network is already active in over
54 countries and consists of more than 500 astronomers, teachers and educators.
EU-UNAWE, 2012
This handbook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share
Alike 3.0 Unported License. It was produced by funding from the European Communitys
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under the grant agreement number
263325.

Introductory Note
In all cultures of the world, tales and myths familiarise young children with the Sun,
Moon, planets and stars. Through these stories, children develop concepts of our Earth,
concepts which have a formative influence. These tales are often a childs first experience
with science and our Universe. Recognising the educational potential of astronomy, we at
Haus der Astronomie (House of Astronomy) in Heidelberg, Germany, in collaboration with
the EU-UNAWE programme, have been developing suitable materials to inspire young
children to take an interest in science and technology and to foster their sense of global
citizenship from an early age.
Universe in a Box is an educational activity kit originally developed under the MINT Box
program for science education in Germany. It explains the difficult and sometimes abstract
concepts of astronomy to young children (4 to 10 years) by providing practical activities
as well as the materials and models required to do them. Based upon the experiences
gained during seven pilot projects in the past seven years, we are positive that many
children, primary school teachers, educators and families across the world will be happy
to use Universe in a Box.
Universe in a Box provides different fascinating learning contexts, because astronomy
is interdisciplinary in nature. The fact that all of us share the same (small) Earth is
central throughout the activities. As a result, the childs world view is extended and
cultural borders are opened. From our experience, children are naturally fascinated by
astronomical phenomena and dont need much incentive to learn from participation in
activities around them. In order to explain the Universe to the open mind of a child, it is
very important not to get lost in space, but to emphasise the context and thus convey
a coherent picture. Where is what in the Universe? How do we recognise the different
objects?
In this handbook, we discuss questions about the Moon, Earth, Sun, planets and
constellations. When teaching astronomy we continuously pay attention to formulating
the right questions clearly and articulately. This will motivate children to think
independently and scientifically, and encourage them to formulate questions themselves.
We also invite you to add your own favourite activities to the handbook and materials to
the box when using it.
Now, let us guide you through a discovery of the fascinating Universe with your students!
- Cecilia Scorza, Natalie Fischer, and the EU-UNAWE Team

About Universe in a Box


Objectives & Goals
Universe in a Box is a low-cost educational resource designed to explain the difficult and
sometimes abstract concepts of astronomy to young children through inquiry-based and
fun learning methods. The educational goals of Universe in a Box are:
Support elementary school curriculum with didactic tools to help teachers overcome the
hurdle of initial preparation of an astronomy class, by selecting appropriate focus areas
and providing appropriate learning content and materials.
Encourage inquiry-based learning among children, involving discussing, drawing
conclusions and presenting. Based on their own horizon system (Earth), children
discover the celestial phenomena in a step-by-step manner and are capable, because of
their own observation, of adapting their world view to the true nature of things (e.g.,
the sphericity of the Earth).
Link astronomical topics to other subjects such as mathematics, art, religion etc. to
support the interdisciplinary learning and present a moreholistic view of our universe.
Raise childrens awareness of and respect for cultures, the miracle of life and protection
of the Earth through the realization that we are all inhabitants of the same small blue
planet.

Audience
Universe in a Box is meant for use in primary schools (children 4 to 10 years of age) as
well as extracurricular activity centres, observatories, planetariums, museums, outreach
programs and amateur astronomy centres. The materials in the box are low cost and the
pieces from the appendix are easy to hand-make, thus increasing their reach to both urban
and rural areas across the world.

Approach
Universe in a Box has been designed as a didactic tool with inquiry-based learning methods
for students. The materials offer the opportunity for students to work out the answers
to questions on astronomy on their own. It encourages hands-on learning, discussing,
drawing conclusions and presenting. The creation of the activities was based on scientific
literature about the development of the child. The authors used professor Usha Goswamis
book Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Cognitive Development and publications of dr.
Gavin Nobes and his research group Childrens understanding of the Earth.
In space, the astronomical objects are not isolated from each other but are interdependent.
As the Moon revolves around the Earth, the Earth, together with the other seven planets,
revolves around the Sun, and the Sun, in turn, revolves around the centre of our galaxy,
the Milky Way. The latter, again, is located within a group of further galaxies, attracts
them and is attracted by them.
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Through Universe in a Box, based on their own horizon system (Earth), children discover
the celestial phenomena in a step-by-step manner and are capable of broadening their
world view by incorporating to it the different objects and phenomena in a coherent and
systematic way. The resource has a modular design and comes with five chapters: Moon,
Earth, Sun, Planets and Constellations. The modules for Moon, Earth and Sun explain that
these three celestial bodies form an integrated system, with moon phases, day/night,
seasons, and solar and lunar eclipses resulting from the interactions among these bodies.
The topics proceed in order of familiarity. This way, children learn about constellations,
stars and the Milky Way gradually, moving from their world of experience to the unknown.
We start with the Moon, which is clearly visible in the sky and which gives students a
clear idea of an object in space. They answer questions like: What is a month? How long is
a lunar day? The round Moon makes the concept of the Earth as a spherical planet easier
to grasp. From the Earth, we move on to the Sun. When the students have familiarised
themselves with the Sun as a large body, around which the Earth orbits, they are ready
to understand the concept of planets orbiting the Sun as well. They also answer questions
like, why do planets move around the Sun in an elliptical orbit? Finally, after getting a
grip on the planets, we travel outwards to the stars. How do stars in constellations relate
to each other? How old are stars? The most accessible way to handle this final topic for
children is to discuss the constellations, which are also part of a childs world of experience.
The activities are designed not only to promote self-discovery through the appropriate
extension of perception and the development of spatial orientation, but also to highlight
the human and cultural components of life and to promote environmental awareness. For
example, in one activity, children are asked to think about the children on the other side
of the world: how they live, what their environment is like, what theyre doing while we
are sleeping and how they see the sky. As a result, they establish the idea that we are all
inhabitants of Earth, a small blue planet. By comparing the Earth to other planets, children
realize how unique and special the Earth is, and this sensitises them to environmental
protection.
As astronomy is filled with many amazing topics and viewpoints, you are also encouraged
to customise the box with additional activities and material of your own. Therefore, some
free space is left in the box, and activity sheets can easily be added into the handbook.

Handbook
This handbook provides over 30 activities, which together make up a complete starting guide
to the universe for children 4 to 10 years old. Either individual activities or entire modules
can be used in the classroom, with both large and small groups.
Each module starts with an introduction to the topic, followed by related activities. The
activity descriptions present the time required for a particular activity, target age, materials
required, learning objectives, background science, activity instructions, connection to the
local curriculum and other details.

Reading the background science and recommended resource list should give you the
necessary knowledge to introduce the topic to the children and to answer any questions
they might have. The description provides instructions on how to lead the activity and
some example questions you could ask. Apart from the relevant background and activity
descriptions, the activity handbook also offers ideas for teaching integrated astronomy with
other disciplines, as well as guidance on further experimentation to extend and apply the
newly learned knowledge.

The appendix at the end of the handbook has craft templates for photocopying and using
in various activities. The handbook is in a loose-leaf-folder format for customisation and
easy updating. New activities can also be found on EU-UNAWEs educational repository
http://www.unawe.org/resources/

Materials
The list of materials in Universe in a Box is given below. Some of the materials used in the
activities (for example a torch), may not be present in the box because of their common
availability. This is also indicated on the activity sheet.

Item
Globe
Earth mask / moon mask
Styrofoam moon and wooden stick
Light stand and bulb
Images of phases of the moon
Phases of the moon flipbook
Planet card game
2D planet images (9) and canvas sun
Blue cloth
3D planetary system (plastic balls) (8)
3D Sun (stability ball)
Paint set
Yellow string
Banderol of zodiac signs
Images of the zodiac (12)
Star map / Planisphere
Little stars (5)
Constellation viewer and cards (20)

Activity
1.2, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 3.5
1.3
1.2, 1.5, 1.6, 2.6, 2.7
1.6, 2.4, 2.5, 3.5
1.8
1.8
4.1
4.1, 4.2
4.3, 5.2
4.2, 4.3, 4.5, 5.1, 5.2
4.2, 4.3, 4.5, 5.1, 5.2
4.2
4.5
4.3, 5.1, 5.2
5.1, 5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5

Keys
Age

Individual

Time

Supervised

Group

Training
Teachers with no experience in astronomy may benefit from a teacher training workshop.
Please contact your closest UNAWE National Program manager: http://www.unawe.org/
network/national/

Credit
Concept

Cecilia Scorza (EU-UNAWE Germany/House of Astronomy)

Authors

Cecilia Scorza and Natalie Fischer (EU-UNAWE Germany/


House of Astronomy)
Erik Arends (UNAWE/Leiden University)

Project Management

Pedro Russo (EU-UNAWE/Leiden University)


Jaya Ramchandani (UNAWE/Sirius Interactive)

Educational
Development

Cecilia Scorza and Natalie Fischer (EU-UNAWE Germany/


House of Astronomy)

Educational Support

Sara Khalafinejad (UNAWE/Leiden University)


Jos van den Broek (Leiden University)

Business Development

Jaya Ramchandani (UNAWE/Leiden University)

Editorial Support

Erik Arends (UNAWE/Leiden University)


Jaya Ramchandani (UNAWE/Sirius Interactive)
Proofreading: Sirius Interactive Ltd.

Activity Contribution

Angela Perez (UNAWE Colombia/Astronomy Kids Club)


Curion Education Pvt. Ltd. (India)

Production

Curion Education Pvt. Ltd. (India)

Images

Image Editing
Charlotte Provot (EU-UNAWE/Leiden University)
Design Support: Diti Kotecha (ditikotecha.com, Graphic
Designer)
Note
We have taken care to credit all pictures. Unfortunately, this
has not been possible in all cases. Should you be aware of the
authorship of any uncredited pictures, please let us know!

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Logo

Nikki Hartomo (Design); David Kerkhoff (Font)

Design / Illustrations

Charlotte Provot (EU-UNAWE/Leiden University)

Disclaimer

The Universe in a Box was carefully produced. Nevertheless,


editors, contributors and the publisher do not guarantee
the information contained in this report to be free of errors.
Readers are advised to keep in mind that statements,
data, illustrations, procedural details or other items may
inadvertently be inaccurate. Educators from the Southern
Hemisphere are advised to verify the activity before
conducting it.

Credit: Gragory H.Revera

Our Fascinating
Moon
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Introduction

Our Earth has a moon, as do many other planets in the Solar System. But this has not always
been the case. Our moon came into existence billions of years ago, when the Earth collided with
a large asteriod the size of Mars. Astronomers think that the large object could have also been
a small planet in formation. They propose that before the collision, the Earth rotated very fast
around its axis and tumbled back and forth. The weather changed chaotically, and day and
night were very short. The attraction between the Moon and the Earth slowed each of their
spins down over time. The Earths axis became more stable, and day and night grew longer. The
Earth evolved into a more hospitable place for life due to the Moon!
Because of its regular and reviewable monthly movement, the Moon is especially suited as
an introductory subject into astronomy. With their bare eyes or a simple pair of binoculars,
children can discover a new world for themselves.
The Moon has several more advantages as an introduction to astronomy:
It can be seen from anywhere, be it from a city or the countryside.
The Moon has a spherical shape, just like the Earth. Whoever has familiarised themselves
with the shape of the Moon will more easily get used to the idea of the Earths spherical
shape. This is especially important for children of the first elementary grade.
The Moon continuously changes shape, which makes observing it more interesting.
Observing is possible even during the day.
With the Moon as an observational target, children can more easily understand what a big
step the development of the telescope has been for astronomy.
In all cultures, the Moon has played a very important role in dividing the time into months.
Each lunar cycle takes about one month.
The (manned) lunar missions of the 1960s and 1970s fascinate children.
The Moon is multicultural: on and around the Moon, all people of Earth have immortalised
characters of their culture through fairy tales and myths.

Moon Phases
Unlike stars, the Moon doesnt shine by itself.
It merely reflects the light it receives from our
Sun. And like on Earth, only one half of the
sphere can bathe in daylight: on the other half
its nighttime. As the Moon revolves around the
Earth, each day we see different parts of the
day side of the Moon. During full moon, the
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Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

Moon faces us with its complete day side. During new moon, its the other way around: we see
the Moons full night side. In between these situations, we see different lunar phases, where
parts of the day side and night side are visible at the same time, in changing proportions.

The Earth revolves around the Sun. However, in relation to this orbital plane, the Moons orbit is not
horizontal (see left picture) but inclined (see right picture).
The lunar phases go from new moon to full moon and back to new moon in a cycle of about
29.5 days. The Moon circles around the Earth in a slightly shorter period of time (27.3 days),
but because the system made some progress in its orbit around the Sun, the Moon needs to fly
a bit longer to get in between the Earth and the Sun again and become a new moon once more.
The Moon flies its rounds in an inclined plane, not in a horizontal plane.
To understand lunar phases better, lets take the example of little Maria who lives in Spain.
Maria often sits in her backyard to look at the Moon. As seen from her standpoint, the Moon is
completely dark in position 1 because the Sun is behind it (see figure). It is a new moon: . In
position 2, Maria can only see the part of the illuminated lunar surface that faces her: .
In position 3, the side of the Moon visible to Maria is completely illuminated. This is a full
moon: . In position 4, Maria again sees only one half of the Moon illuminated, but here its
the other half: . After 29.5 days, the Moon returns to position 1.
4

1
2
Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

Maria stands on Earth and observes the Moon at different times. Depending on where the Moon
is relative to her at each instant, the Moon shows a certain portion of his illuminated side. The
Moons orbit is inclined by about 5 degrees, which is why we do not have a lunar and solar eclipse
every month.

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Facts about the Moon

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Age

About 4 billion years

Diameter

3,472 km (a quarter of Earths; the


Moon fits on Australia)

Mass

73,477 billion billion kg (7.3 1022 kg)

Average distance from Earth

384,400 km

Rotation period around own


axis

27.3 days (about one month)

Orbital period

27.3 days (about one month)

Temperature

Can be more than 100 C (day side) and


lower than -200 C (night side)

Gravity

On the Moon, things are six times


lighter than on Earth

Fun fact

The Moon is the only celestial body man


has ever set foot on

1.1

Fact File on
the Moon
Brief Description
Make a fact file of the Moon
by looking up fascinating
astronomical information
about it.

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

Keywords
Moon
Fact file

Materials
Image of the moon (Appendix)
Pen
Paper

Learning Objectives
Learn about the properties of the Moon, in comparison to Earth.

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Background Science
The Moon is about 4 billion years old. Its diameter is 3,476 kilometres,
corresponding to one-fourth of the Earths diameter, which is about the size
of Australia. The mass of the Moon is about one ninetieth of the Earths
mass, or 7.3 1022 kilograms (that is, a seven with 22 zeros!). It is made up
of ferrous rock.
The Moon revolves once around the Earth in 29.5 days (about one month),
which is exactly the duration of one lunar day. That is why we always see
the same side of the Moon. On the day side of the Moon, temperatures can
reach up to 100 Celsius, while on the night side they can drop below 200
Celsius.
The distance between the Moon and the Earth (i.e., 384,400 kilometres)
could contain the Earth 30 times. It is the farthest humans have ever
travelled: the Moon is the only celestial body that man has ever set foot on.
On 21 July 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped on the lunar
surface as the first human being. On the Moon, you can jump especially
high and far: your weight is only one sixth of your weight on Earth.
Other sources: Get more information on our Moon through NASAs website:
http://goo.gl/6H9sK

Full description
Ask children to search for information about the Moon from the fact
sheet and books or websites.
Let them compare the obtained values to familiar things or other
celestial objects and write them down in a fact file.
Encourage the children to use orders of magnitude (e.g., the Moon is 19
times lighter than the Earth) instead of absolute numbers.
Tip: The same exercise can be done for other celestial bodies, to get an
understanding of the relative sizes in the universe.

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1.2

Distance to
the Moon

Brief Description
Use a to-scale model of the Earth and Moon. Learn to understand the
relative distances between them.

Keywords
Moon
Earth
Distance

Materials
Globe (Box)
Moon sphere (Box)
Folding rule

Learning Objectives
Learn about the relative distances of the Earth-Moon system.

Background Science
The Moon and the Earth circle around each other at an average distance of
384,400 kilometres. In many artists impressions, this length is pictured as
much too small in relation to the sizes of both bodies. In reality, there is a
lot of space between them: about 30 times the size of the Earth.

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Credit: ESA / DLR / Freie Universitt Berlin

Picture of the Earth-Moon system, taken by the Mars Express in 2003

Full description
Ask the children to
compare the Moon and the
Earth: How large is the
Moon relative to Earth,
and how distant are they
from each other?
Let them use a globe
and a model of the
Moon. We use a scale
of 1:100,000,000 where
Credit: Natalie Fisher
a distance of 1 cm
corresponds to a real
distance of 1,000 km. The
Moon is 384,400 km away from Earth, which corresponds in our model to
a distance of 384.4 cm = 3.84 m. That seems surprisingly far apart! The
reason for this is that the Moon is depicted as much too close to the Earth
in many pictures, for practical reasons. Hence, the feeling for the real
distance is often lost. Give the children this feeling back by asking them
to form pairs and stand 3.84 m away from each other while holding the
models.
Tip: Tell the children about the relatively thin atmosphere on Earth. If the
Earth were an apple, then the atmosphere would be as thick as the apples
skin. The Earths vulnerable small air layer is of vital importance for life.
It offers us oxygen to breathe and protects us from dangerous radiation
from space and incoming meteorites. So we have to be careful with our
atmosphere. By the way, the Moon has no atmosphere at all!

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1.3

Lunar day
Brief Description
Interactive role play between the Earth
and Moon with masks.

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Keywords
Moon
Earth
Moon Face

Materials
Earth mask (box)
Moon mask (box)

Learning Objectives
Learn why the Moon always faces us with the same side.

Background Science
Have you ever noticed that the Moon always turns the same side to us?
This is because in the past, the Earth created tidal forces on the Moon, just
like the Moon is still doing on Earth. A planet or moon slows down when it
experiences tidal forces, because of the energy lost by friction. Think of the
tidal waves on Earth: water moves and therefore experiences friction. On
Earth, the effects are clearly visible in the oceans. However, the rotation of
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our planet isnt affected as much as that of the Moon, because its heavier.
In fact, the Moon even stopped rotating at all from our point of view. We
always see the same side of the Moon, because the Moons rotation slowed
down until it reached the point where it completes one rotation in exactly
the same time the Moon circles around the Earth. This phenomenon (the
Moon is said to be tidally locked) can be observed in other planet-moon
systems as well.
Other sources: Short movie about the Moon in tidal locking:
http://goo.gl/qZSI8

Full description

Ask two children to put on an earth and moon mask, thus playing the
part of the Earth and the Moon.
Let them stand opposite to each other, take each others hands and
slowly turn around each other. The earth child should try to keep
standing in one spot as much as possible.
She/he clearly recognises that the moon child always turns the same
side to her/him. From her/his point of view, the Moon does not rotate!
But what do those children see who observe the activity from outside?
If they watch closely, they will realise that the moon child continuously
changes her/his direction of view. So the Moon does in fact rotate
around herself/himself. One revolution around the Earth takes the Moon
just as long as one rotation around itself! Thus, a lunar day lasts 29.5
days (it takes the Moon 29.5 days to orbit around the Earth).
Tip: You should realise that the Earth isnt depicted in the correct way in
this activity. The earth child should actually spin around its axis much
faster. However, this is not possible when the children are holding hands. In
reality, the Earth doesnt always have the same side directed at the Moon.
Every person on earth has seen the Moon, no matter on which side he/she
lives!

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1.4

Lunar
Landscape
Brief Description
Create a lunar landscape
forming different patterns of
craters with stones, cocoa and
flour.

Credit: NASA

Keywords
Moon
Crater
Landscape

Materials




Baking tin
Cocoa
Flour
Stones of different sizes (0.5 3 cm)
Image of Moon (Appendix)

Learning Objectives
Learn about the Moons landscape and how its craters are
formed.
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Background Science
Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer and mathematician from the
16th century, was the first man to take a close look at the Moon with a
telescope. As he stared through the telescope for the first time, he couldnt
believe what he saw. Huge mountains, craters, highlands and valleys made
up the breathtakingly beautiful lunar landscape.
Several years after Galileis discovery, another Italian astronomer named
Giovanni Battista Riccioli created a map on which he named the largest
seas of the Moon (see image below). In reality, these seas are dark valleys
that look like seas. No liquid water exists on the lunar surface, just some
ice in deep craters. Because Riccioli believed that the Moon was directly
influencing the weather on Earth, he called some of the seas Sea of
Tranquillity, Sea of Serenity, Sea of Rain, Sea of Clouds and Ocean of
Storms.

Credit image: Gregory H.Revera / Credit graphic: Unawe C.Provot

The many craters on the Moon were created a long time ago by meteorite
impacts. They all have different sizes and some of them have bright rays
around them, an indication of their relatively young age (the dark zones
are older). On Earth, the impacts of meteorites disappear over time because
of erosion: rain, wind and water smooth the surface by wearing away
irregularities until only the most recent ones are still visible. On top of
that, the Earths atmosphere burns most meteorites before they crash onto
the surface. The Moon, however, has no atmosphere, which means that all
craters stay intact. This is why the Moon is scarred with so many craters
and they keep increasing in number as time goes by!
Other sources: Images of Moon craters (http://goo.gl/D0r2p)
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Full description
Spread out a thick layer of flour on a baking tin, followed by a thin
layer of cocoa on top of it, using a sieve.
Ask the children to collect stones of different sizes and throw them on
the tin at different speeds and from different angles. In this way, many
different craters will appear.

Credit: Cecilia Scorza

A meteorite hits our lunar landscape from the left. One can clearly recognise the
star-shaped throw-off of white flour, which is more pronounced in the direction of
flight (to the right).

Credit: NASA

Next, ask the children to compare real lunar craters on a picture of the
Moon with the craters they have made. What does the star-like shape
of the throw-offs tell about the direction and velocity of the projectile?
What does the crater size depend on?
Tip: You could also ask the children to craft the different features of a
lunar landscape with paper mach and paint. You would need just a
wooden board, newspapers, paste, paint, brushes, spray glue and fine
sand. First make paper mach out of a newspaper and paste. Then let the
children create a lunar landscape on a wooden board using cage wire and
the paper mach. Dont forget the craters! After the landscape dries up,
ask the children to paint it. Using spray glue and sand, they could model
the landscape even more realistically. Additionally, they could build little
astronauts and moon cars (e.g., with Lego).
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1.5

Reflecting
Moon

Brief Description
Shine a flashlight on a white sphere from different directions to create
different lunar phases.

Keywords
Moon
Reflected light
Lunar phases

Materials
Moon sphere (Box)
Wooden spit (Box)
Flash light

Learning Objectives
Learn why the Moon shines in different lunar phases.

Background Science
See introduction
25

Full description
Show the children the moon sphere attached to the wooden spit.
Now turn off the light: the children will realise that they cannot see the
sphere in the dark because it doesnt shine by itself.
Light up the sphere with a flash light (representing the Sun): it will look
very bright on the side that is lit.
By changing the direction of the light, you can show that a full sphere
(full moon) or half a sphere (first- or third-quarter moon) are the result
of the Sun shining on the Moon from a specific direction.

Credit: Unawe C.Provot

Credit: ESA

Let the children try for themselves and explain which lunar phases
they are observing from every position.
Tip: For ages 810, instead of illuminating the sphere from different
directions, you could move the sphere around the children (keep
illuminating the room with one fixed light source). This way, they see how
the moon phases actually shift: the Moon orbits the Earth, with a fixed
background light (Sun).

Related activities: 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.10

26

1.6

Lunar Phases
Visualised

Brief Description
Watch the Moon shift phases by revolving an artificial moon around a
globe with a fixed light source shining from one direction.

Keywords
Moon
Lunar phases

Materials




Light stand (Box)


Light bulb (Box)
Earth model (Box)
Moon sphere (Box)
Wooden spit (Box)

Learning Objectives
Visualise how the Moon shifts phases in the Earth-Moon-Sun
system

Background Science
See introduction
27

Full description
The best way for children to visualise lunar phases is to play the role of
the Earth, the Moon and the Sun themselves. For this, you need a light
source (e.g., a light stand with a bulb, or an overhead projector) as the
Sun, a globe and a suitable moon model fixed to a wooden spit.
Darken the room and make sure the fixed light source is pointed
towards the centre of the classroom.
Now ask one volunteer to stand in the middle holding the Earth, and
another child to hold the Moon at the edge of the room.
Let the rest of the class stand around the Earth to observe the Moon
from there. Ask the moon child to revolve around the Earth. What do the
children say about the shape of the Moon (lunar phase)? What happens?
Tip: To distinguish one semi-moon from the other, you could use the capital
B and the lower case letter a. When the right side is lit, it looks a bit like
a B, and it is waxing. Here B stands for before full moon. When the left
side of the Moon is lit, it looks somewhat like an a, and it is waning. Here
the a stands for after full moon (see pictures). However, this only goes for
the Northern Hemisphere. On the Southern Hemisphere, it is the other way
around: left side lit means waxing and right side lit means waning.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Related activities: 1.5, 1.7, 1.8, 1.10

28

1.7

Lunar Phases
Box Model
Brief Description
Build a simple shoe box
model with spyholes to
see the four main phases
of the moon.

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

Keywords
Moon
Lunar phases

Materials





One shoe box per pair


Cotton ball (30 mm in diameter)
Black paint, wooden spit (Box)
Glue, brush
Small flash light
Scissors

Learning Objectives
Learn about the four main phases of the moon.

Background Science
See introduction
29

Full description
Divide the class up into pairs and ask them to paint the inside of a shoe
box black.
Let them cut a spyhole in the centre of each of the four sides. In one of
the two narrow sides, they drill another hole, which is just big enough
for a flash light to be inserted from the inside out.
They fix a cotton ball, on which little craters have been painted, on a
wooden spit in the centre of the cover, which is then closed.

Credit: Natalie Fischer

Next, they light the flash light. The children can now observe four
different lunar phases (full, new, first-quarter and third-quarter)
through the four spyholes.
Related activities: 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 1.10

30

1.8 Lunar Phases


in Action

Brief Description
Arrange pictures of the lunar phases in the right order to see the
progression from new moon to full moon and back.

Keywords



Moon
Lunar phases
New moon
Full moon

Materials
Set of lunar phases images (Appendix)

Learning Objectives
Learn about the progression of lunar phases through the month.

Background Science
The current phase of the moon depends on the angle at which the
Sun shines on the Moon. Because the Moon rotates around the Earth
counterclockwise, with the Sun as a relatively fixed background light,
the boundary between day and night on the Moon shifts from right to
left from the perspective of the Northern Hemisphere. This goes for both
31

waxing and waning moon. As viewed from the Southern Hemisphere,


the boundary shifts from left to right.

Full description
Cut out the picture cards with the different lunar phases, shuffle them
and distribute them. Each group of four children needs a set of cards.
Ask the children to place them in the right order (see bottom series for
the correct order). Because the cards were cut out, its not clear anymore
what is up and down. This makes it harder to determine which quarter
moon is waxing and which is waning. On the Northern hemisphere, a
lit right half means a waxing moon. On the Southern its the other way
around.
Therefore, ask the children to pay attention to the man in the Moon
(see picture in the Appendix). Let them hold the cards in a way that
this figure is on the right side. The upper series in the image below is an
example of how you could do it the wrong way: the cards only form
half a cycle, in which the second and fourth card are upside down.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Correct series: all cards are placed right-side up and the complete cycle is depicted,
from new moon to full moon and back to new moon.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Wrong series: the second and fourth card are upside down. Also, this is only half a cycle.

Tip: For ages 68, it is sufficient to arrange the cards from the narrow
crescent to full moon or reversely. In contrast, the surface details should
strike children ages 810. They should learn to look closely.
For ages 810, the children can also make an animated flip book of the
lunar phases. A sample flipbook is available in the Box.
Related activities: 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.10
32

1.9

Multicultural
Moon

Brief Description
Identify characters on the Moons surface by placing transparent
outlines of people or animals from different cultures on a picture of the
Moon.

Keywords
Moon
Culture
Characters

Materials
Image of the Moon (Appendix)
Transparent moon-figures of Man, Woman, Rabbit, Lion, Crocodile
(Appendix)
Markers

Learning Objectives
Learn about other cultures perspectives on the Moon.

Background Science
If you look at the Moon more closely, you can get the impression that the
Moons seas (which are, in reality, dark valleys) look like figures. People
from different countries and cultures often see different things.
33

The figures usually correspond to the culture and


environment. For example, why do the Chinese
see a rabbit and no crocodile? Because there
are no crocodiles in China, but many rabbits. In
Germany, people see a Man in the Moon.
Germany

Credit: Cecilia Scorza

Kenya

China

Congo

Universal

Full description
Show the children the figures in the Moon from different countries
simply by putting one Moon-figure transparency after the other on the
picture of the Moon.
Now you can ask the children: Why dont people in Congo see any
rabbits? And why dont the Chinese see a crocodile?
Tip: If you have children in the class who originate from different countries,
let them ask at home which characters their relatives see, based on their
culture. The stories about the moon figures are also very suitable for
theatre plays!
Related activities: 1.10, 2.3

34

1.10

Moon
Storytelling

Brief Description
Share stories and inspire children to write stories on the Moon.

Keywords



Moon
Figures
Culture
Storytelling

Materials
Image of the Moon (Appendix)
Transparent moon-figures of Man, Woman, Rabbit, Lion, Crocodile
(Appendix)
Markers
Stories about figures in the moon (Appendix)

Learning Objectives
Learn about other cultures perspectives on the Moon through
story telling.

Background Science
See 1.9
35

Full description
Hand out pictures of the Moon and transparencies.
Ask the children to place the transparency over the moon picture.
Let them draw their own characters onto the full moon picture.

Here, children see, for example, a soccer player, a shark or a monster on the Moon

Let them write a story about it and read it to each other. The children
can now see how people in different cultures came up with their own
figures, which they have eternalised in fairy tales and myths.
Read the stories from the Appendix to the children.
Tip: If there are children from different cultures in the classroom, you
can emphasise the influences from a culture on how people look at the
Moon. The children might have learnt different fairy tales and myths from
their parents, which may make them see different figures in the Moon. If
the class is not multi-cultural, you can explain the figures from different
cultures yourself (see Appendix).
Related activities: 1.9, 2.3

36

1.11

Mini Research Project:


Revolution of the Moon and Lunar Phases

Brief Description
Explore how the Moon shifts phases and revolves around the Earth by
drawing the Moon every night for five weeks in a row.

Keywords
Moon
Lunar phases
Revolution

Materials
Moon observation form (Appendix)
White marker

Learning Objectives
Learn about the revolution of the moon by observing its phases.

Background Science
The Moon continuously changes shape: sometimes it looks like a bananashaped crescent, and sometimes it looks round as a ball. All these
different faces of the Moon are called moon phases. The Moon is clearest
visible during the night, but you can also watch it during the day!

37

There is always a period of about one month in between two new moons.
During this time, the moon phase shifts from new moon to waxing
crescent, to first quarter, to waxing gibbous, to full moon, to waning
gibbous, to third quarter, to waning crescent and finally back to new
moon.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The moon phases shift from new moon, to full moon, and back to new moon

Full description
Over a timespan of five weeks, let the children observe the Moon every
day/night (if possible) and draw it on the observation form. The form is
made up of five rows with seven black areas each, according to the days of
the week from Monday through Sunday. They can start at any day of the
week. Every day on which the children have a chance to observe the Moon,
they draw it in a new black box using a white marker. Emphasise that they
should also note the date and time. If the sky was cloudy or has not been
observed, leave out the corresponding box.
If the Moon is already visible in the morning, the children should paint the
date box blue. On the days on which the Moon can already be observed in
the afternoon, they should paint the date box green. If the Moon is only
observable in the evening or if the children havent paid attention to the
Moon during the day, the box is left white.
Evaluate the observations after five weeks:
Count the days between two of the same lunar phases. What is this
timespan also called?
How about the Moons crescent? Can you infer from its orientation
whether the crescent will become thicker or thinner in the coming days?
In which lunar phase can we already see the Moon in the morning or
afternoon, respectively?
From the childrens sketches, you can estimate the duration of a month
as 29 to 30 days. If you are on the Northern Hemisphere, when the moon
is waxing, the right half of the moon is illuminated; when the moon is
waning, the left half is illuminated. On the Southern Hemisphere it is
the other way around. In the days after new moon (waxing moon), the
Moon is already visible in the afternoon. In the days before new moon
(waning moon) you can see the Moon in the morning.
Note that the orientation of the crescent changes after each new and full
moon, respectively.
38

Tip: Astronomically, the most interesting phase of the moon is the firstor third-quarter moon, or when its crescent is still small. Then, using
binoculars or a small telescope, the craters at the transition boundary from
the illuminated to the unlighted side of the Moon can be observed best.
This is because the light falls in from one side and the higher areas of the
Moon cast long shadows over the valleys. When Galileo Galilei did the same
about 400 years ago, he and the world were surprised that there are such
beautiful landscapes on the Moon.
The full moon is a beautiful object rather for its overall appearance: during
that time the bright and dark areas on the Moon are completely visible and
reveal funny characters like the Man in the Moon.
Some activities during an observation might include:
drawing the lunar craters (after
having a look through a telescope)
drawing the Moon with its dark and
bright areas
photographing the Moon
For the observation, a simple pair of
binoculars (preferably fixed to a tripod
so it doesnt shake) is sufficient. As an
introduction you might, for example,
tell a story about the life of Galileo
Galilei. This way, a special connection is
established between the childrens own
actions and this historical person.
Astronomical websites or lunar calendars
put together the most important
information beforehand for a successful
observation:



Credit: Wikimedia Commons

When does it get dark?


Which lunar phase can be seen when?
When does the moon rise and set?
How high is the moon in the sky?

Before the observation night, try out where you can best observe the Moon
(school yard, open field, private garden).
Related activities: 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8

39

40

Credit: NASA

The Earth, Our


Home Planet
41

Introduction

The Earth is a very special planet the only one we know to harbour life. It is our home. When
astronauts first stepped on the Moon in 1969 and brought home a photograph of the Earth
taken from space, many people realised that we all live together on one tiny planet. From
space, no political, cultural or linguistic boundaries are visible: we are all inhabitants of this
one blue dot in a sea of emptiness.
About 4.5 billion years ago,
when the Sun was born, the
Earth formed from the dust
circling around it. Because the
distance from the Earth to the
Sun is just right, life can exist on
our home planet. We need fluid
water to survive, and water only
takes on a liquid form at certain
temperatures. If the Earth were a
little closer to the Sun, all water
would have evaporated. If it were
farther away, the whole planet
Credit: NASA
would be frozen over. In addition
to the convenient temperatures,
we can thank the Earths atmosphere for protecting us. It burns up dangerous meteors that
come flying in from space, it keeps away harmful radiation, and it collects sun rays to regulate
the temperature and to trap some of the heat at night.
You dont see the Sun at night because the Earth rotates around its axis. When you are on the
side of the Earth facing the Sun, its daytime. Twelve hours later, the Earth has spun half a
rotation, causing you to be in the Earths own shadow, meaning its night time.

42

Earth Facts

Age

About 4.5 billion years

Diameter

12,742 km

Mass

5,974 million billion billion kg


(5.974 x 1024 kg)

Distance to the Sun

150,000,000 km (1 astronomical
unit)

Rotation period around own


axis

23 hours 56 minutes (about one


day)

Orbital period
365.24 days (about one year)
Temperature
Between 90C and 60C
Gravity
Inclination rotation axis
with respect to orbital plane
around Sun

After one second, a falling object


reached a speed of 9.81 meters
per second.
23.4 degrees

43

44

2.1

Spherical
Earth

Brief Description
Watch a ship sink down the horizon over a flat surface and a globe to
perceive Earths shape.

Keywords
Earth
Shape
Globe

Materials
Globe (Box)
Origami ship (Appendix)
Toy figures (Appendix)

Learning Objectives
Perceive the spherical shape of the Earth.

Background Science
Children can make a simple observation to determine for themselves that
the Earth is round. A captain standing on the seashore observes a ship going
away from him. He will realise that the ship not only becomes smaller at
the horizon (because distant objects seem smaller), but it also seems to sink:
the hull is the first part to disappear, and the mast top is the last. How can
all this be explained? Some centuries ago, people noticed ships sinking in or
rising from the horizon, from which they concluded the Earth must be round.
If the Earth were flat, ships wouldnt sink while moving away, they would
just keep getting smaller and smaller.
45

Full description
First, ask the children to
make a small origami ship
(see Appendix).
Take the origami ship
and a toy figure (see
Appendix) and place
them on a table top,
representing a flat Earth.
Let the children watch
the ship sail away from
the perspective of the
figure. They will see the
ship getting smaller and
smaller.
Now put the origami ship
and the toy figure on a
globe, which represents a
round Earth.
Again, ask the children
to watch the ship
move away from the
perspective of the figure.
They will notice the ship
not only gets smaller,
but it will sink as well.
Let them describe in their
own words what they see.
Related activities: 2.2

46

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

On a flat surface, you only see a ship getting


smaller and smaller (top). On a spherical shape,
you see the ship getting smaller and also sinking
in the horizon (below).

2.2

Up or
Down

Brief Description
Show that the Earth has no up and down by putting an ice bear on the
North Pole of a globe and a penguin on the South Pole and explain the
direction of Earths gravitation.

Keywords
Earth
Gravity
Up/down

Materials
Globe (Box)
Toy penguin (Appendix)
Toy ice bear (Appendix)

Learning Objectives
Obtain a feeling for the direction of the Earths gravitation. Learn that in
reality, there is no up or down; this is merely our perception.

Background Science
Adults consider some concepts obvious that give children difficulty: for
example, imagining people standing on the Earths surface. If the globes
North Pole faced upwards, then people in Europe would be standing on a
slippery slope. It is even stranger to imagine people living on the equator,
not to mention inhabitants of the Southern Hemisphere. Why dont they
fall off the planet?
47

In our everyday experience, the world is limited to everything within our


horizon. On such a small scale, the Earths surface is flat, and gravity seems to
pull everything down. What is up, must come down. Children easily translate
this local perspective onto the whole world. On a global scale, however,
there is no force that pulls everything down. There is only a force that pulls
everything towards the centre of the Earth. For people on the South Pole
this means an upward force. But from their perspective, its just a regular
downward force.

Up

This is the way people


from the Northern
Hemisphere perceive
gravity. However, gravity
points to the centre of
the Earth, meaning there
is no real up and down,
which prevents people on
the Southern Hemisphere
from falling off the Earth.

Down
Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

Full description
Show the children a globe with an ice bear on top, and a penguin on the
bottom.
Ask one child to be the ice bears voice, and another to be the penguins. Let
them start the following dialogue.
Ice bear: Hey, down there! Hows that, living with your head down? That
must be very uncomfortable, right?
Penguin: Me??? You are the one that lives with his head down, not me!

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

48

While the penguin is answering, quickly turn the globe upside down and
alternately let the penguin stand on top.
Both animals (and also the children) will understand that because the
Earths gravitation is always directed to the centre of the Earth, there is
no up and down and therefore, neither of the animals is standing upside
down, let alone falling off the Earth.
Tip: Distribute earth mosaic templates (Appendix) amongst the children and
ask them to draw a landscape on it with coloured pencils (above the dashed
line they can draw houses, mountains and forests, and below it the seabed
or mines or rocks). This way they create a picture with an upper and lower
section. Then let them cut out the template. Now ask the children (preferably
a group of 16) to lay their templates on the floor in a circle, to form a round
mosaic. Let the children search the up and down. They will notice there is no
real up and down anymore! Depending on which side you are looking from,
the pictures are only oriented differently! This exercise helps to break the
fixation on up and down.

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

Related activities: 2.1

49

50

2.3

Our Home
Planet

Brief Description
Understand the concept of the Earth as one sphere on which all people live,
by painting different people and animals on a paper mach globe.

Keywords
Earth
Cultures

Materials



Blue stability ball (120 cm in diameter)


Paper mach
Colour paint
Brushes

Learning Objectives
Obtain a feeling of being a terrestrial or earthling, rather than being part
of one culture or country.

Background Science
The Earth is not only a natural habitat for plants, animals and human
beings: it also offers space to many different cultures. A central experience
that children should have in this project is to perceive themselves as
terrestrials. The awareness of being a German, Turk, Russian, Italian or
whichever nationality should then lead to the invitation: Show me your
world and Ill show you mine. Different cultures are like coequal windows
through which the world can be viewed.
51

Full description
Take a blue stability ball (120 cm in diameter) and glue paper mach
continents on it. Leave them blank and dont include any country borders.
Ask the children to paint or stick humans and animals with which they can
identify themselves. If there are few different cultures in the class, then
provide the children with some information about other cultures (e.g., in
the Sahara desert a man in white clothes with a camel).

Credit: Cecilia Scorza

The end result will provide different cultures on one and the same sphere,
which will give children the feeling they are terrestrials, rather than just
part of their own culture or country. In addition, this exercise gives an
easily comprehensible insight into the different habitats on Earth.
Related activities: 1.9

52

2.4

Day and
Night

Brief Description
Perform a story about two people living on opposite sides of the Earth, who
experience night and day at different moments.

Keywords
Earth
Time
Day and night

Materials



Globe (Box)
Light stand with bulb (Box)
Two toy figures (Appendix)
Glue pads

Learning Objectives
Learn what causes day and night.

Background Science
The most everyday interaction between the Earth and the Sun is the
change of day and night. This is because the Earth spins around its own
axis. When you are on the side of the Earth facing the Sun, its daytime.
Twelve hours later, the Earth has spun half a rotation, causing you to be in
the Earths own shadow, meaning its night-time.
53

Credit: NASA

From an outsiders view, the Earth performs one complete rotation around
its axis in 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds. Our Earth day, however, is
24 hours long, which is four minutes longer. This is because we define a day
such that at noon, the Sun stands exactly in the south again. And for that to
be also the case on the next day, the Earth has to rotate a bit more around its
axis, as it has proceeded further on its orbit around the Sun. To do so, takes
the Earth four minutes.

The Earth spins around its axis in 23 hours and 56 minutes. However, since it has
travelled further along its orbit around the Sun during this time, the planet must
rotate slightly more to put the Sun in the same position in the sky for any specific
time as the day before. This is why we have 24 hours in a day.

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

54

In one year (365 days and about 6 hours), the Earth revolves once around the
Sun at an average distance of 149.6 million kilometres (which corresponds to
a chain of 100 Suns). There is an apparent discrepancy between a year (365
days) and the time it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun (365.24 days). To make
up for this quarter day difference, we have a leap year every four years an
additional day on February 29th. Without this leap day, the seasons would
shift one day every four years, eventually resulting in a summer Christmas
(on the Northern Hemisphere)!
Then there still is the problem that the difference is not exactly one quarter
(0.25), but actually 0.24 days. To solve this, we dont have a leap day on the
turn of a century (e.g., there was no leap day in 1900). But then why was
there a leap day in 2000, you ask? Because to really make it all fit and to
make it more confusing we do have a leap day on the turn of a century
thats divisible by 4 (e.g. 1600, 2000 and 2400).

Full description

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

While it is daytime for Michael in Germany, it is nighttime for Moni in China


Put two toy figures (see Appendix) on a globe: one on Germany and one
on China. While telling the children the following story, shine a bright
lamp (the Sun) on the globe.
Moni and Michael are brother and sister and live in Germany. Monis
godmother enjoys travelling a lot, and this time she has taken Moni with
her to China. In the meantime, Michael stays in Germany and attends
kindergarten. On one afternoon, Michael comes home hungry and his mother
cooks his favourite dish for him: spaghetti bolognese. While the boy enjoys his
lunch, he wonders if his sister is having a good time in China and tries to call
her mobile phone.
Monis phone rings once, rings twice, again and again. Only after the seventh
ring Moni answers with a sleepy voice: Who is there? Its me, Michael! Im
just eating spaghetti for lunch and wanted to call you So what are you
doing? Me? Im sleeping, Michael. But why are you sleeping, Moni? Are you
ill?
Now ask the children whats going on.

55

To explain, slowly rotate the globe in the direction of the arrow from west
to east (see figure). The children will realise that at some point, night will
fall where Michael is and day will break where Moni is, and vice versa.
How long does Michael have to wait until he can reach Moni without
waking her?
Tip: This story is also very suitable for introducing the time zones on Earth!
Related activities: 3.5

2.5

Seasons

Brief Description
Tell a story about different seasons on two hemispheres, while holding a
globe tilted towards a light bulb.

Keywords
Earth
Seasons

Materials




Globe (Box)
Light stand with a bulb (Box)
Two toy figures (Appendix)
Glue pads
Flashlight

Learning Objectives
Learn how the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun causes seasonal
changes.

Background Science
The Earth is not isolated in space: the Sun and the Moon create exciting
phenomena on Earth like day and night, the seasons and eclipses.
In the context of the seasons, it is important to stress that the Earth has
a fixed orientation in space: the Earths rotation axis is stable, i.e., not
wobbling. It always points in the same direction: the north end points
towards the Polar Star, which consequently is located exactly north in the
57

sky, regardless of where you are (on the Northern Hemisphere). This stable
axis is not perpendicular to the Earths orbital plane around the Sun, but is
inclined to the latter by about 23 degrees. This causes the seasons.

Wrong: Earth axis is not inclined

Right: Inclined Earth axis

Credit (all three): UNAWE C.Provot

Depending on the stage of orbit the Earth is in, the Northern or Southern
Hemisphere collects sun rays at a more direct angle, causing summer on that
hemisphere.
Dates
If you are at 23 degrees southern latitude (Tropic of Capricorn) on 21 December
at noon, the Suns rays fall on your head exactly at a right angle: you dont
have a shadow! This right angle means the sun rays have maximum impact,
making it summer on the Southern Hemisphere. At the same time, children are
having snowball fights on the Northern Hemisphere. Its winter there, because
the sun rays are falling in at a wide angle, having minimum impact.
On 21 March, the sun rays are impacting the equator at a right angle. Now
the Northern and Southern Hemisphere share the same temperature: on the
former its spring, on the latter its autumn. Three months later, on 21 June, the
Suns rays fall in at a right angle on Tropic of Cancer (an imaginary ring at 23
degrees northern latitude). Now they have maximum impact on the Northern
Hemisphere: its summer in Europe. Again three months later, on 21 September,
the equator gets sun rays from a right angle once again. The Northern and
Southern hemisphere once again have the same temperatures, only this time
its autumn on the former, and spring on the latter.
58

Misconceptions
As you see, all that matters is the angle at which the sun rays fall on the
Earths surface. As the Earth orbits the Sun, both hemispheres take turns
facing the Sun at a right angle, because the Earths axis is tilted. This
eliminates two misconceptions about what causes the seasons. Some people
think the seasons change because the Earths distance to the Sun varies. It
actually does, but this has very little effect, and is not what causes seasonal
changes. (Besides, this wouldnt distinguish both hemispheres from each
other: it would be summer on all places at the same time.) Furthermore,
it is sometimes wrongly assumed that due to the Earths tilted axis, each
hemisphere is at turns closer to the Sun, at which point it is summer in that
spot. The hemispheres indeed are closer to the Sun at turns, but this is such
a minor difference that it has no effect. The real cause is the angle of the
incident sun rays!
Moni and Michael
To illustrate the effect of this angle, lets look at the picture. Moni and
Michael both stand on the day side of the Earth. Moni stands in Ireland
(Northern Hemisphere). There, a bundle of sun rays strikes the surface with
some inclination and disperses over an area. Michael stands in South Africa
(Southern Hemisphere). The bundle of sun rays strikes on him almost at a
right angle, and disperses over a much smaller area as compared to Monis
location.

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

The story of Moni and Michael depicts winter on the Northern Hemisphere
and summer on the Southern Hemisphere (1) (see figure on the next page).
But six months later, when the Earth is on the other side of the Sun, the
situation is opposite (3): The Suns rays now reach Moni almost at a right
angle (summer in the north), while at Michaels location they fall in skewed
(winter in the south). Intermediate position (2) corresponds to spring on the
Northern (N) and autumn on the Southern (S) Hemisphere. At position (4),
the situation is exactly opposite.

59

Spring (N)
Autumn (S)

Summer (N)

Winter (S)

Autumn (N)
Spring (S)

1
Winter (N)

Summer (S)

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

Other sources: Short movie of Earths orbit: http://goo.gl/eQW4l

Full description
Glue two toy figures (see Appendix) on a globe: one on Ireland and one on
South Africa.
While telling the children the following story, shine a bright lamp (the
Sun) on the globe.
Moni and Michael are brother and sister and are from Germany. They love
travelling, so they each go on holiday abroad. Michael flies to South Africa
(Southern Hemisphere) with his godfather, and Moni goes to Ireland (Northern
Hemisphere) with her godmother. After they have arrived, the children want
to call each other and exchange their experiences. Moni calls Michael: Hello
Michael! How are you? What are you doing right now? Michael answers: Im
fine! Im just about to go to swimming in the sea. Say again???? Moni shouts
out, surprised. At such low temperatures? What low temperatures? Michael
answers. It is 29 degrees Celsius and Im sweating all the time! But what are
you doing, Moni? Im going to go sledding. Its freezing cold here!

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

How is it possible that Moni is cold and Michael sweats, although its
the same time of day for both children (they are in the same time zone)?
60

Explain to the children the intensity of light reaching Michael (South


Africa) and Moni (Ireland). At Monis location, the light falls in with some
inclination: it appears weaker. At the same time, Michael is standing
directly under the strong, blazing Sun (lamp).
At this point, it may be helpful to light the floor with a lamp: if you hold it
vertically, a smaller area is lit, which appears very bright. When the lamp
is skewed, the light cone is much larger and the brightness much lower.
Now hold the globe next to the lamp while holding it at an inclined angle.
Make sure that Southern Hemisphere points in the direction of the lamp
(see illustration). South Africa is much more brightly lit than Ireland!
Next, hold the globe on the other side of the lamp. You just skipped half a
year (or half an orbit around the Sun). This time, Moni receives the light
more directly (summer in the north) and Michael gets the sun rays from a
wide angle (winter in the south).

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

Tip:
While carrying out the activity, dont forget that the Earths axis always
points in one and the same direction (to the polar star)!
Now put a third toy figure Pedro on the globe, on the equator in the
middle of Africa. Repeat the activity. Does it matter for Pedro where
the Earth is in its orbit around the Sun? For him, the consequences of an
inclined axis are much less extreme. For this reason, people on the equator
dont know seasons like for example Europeans do.
To emphasise that there would be no seasons if the Earths axis were
perpendicular to its orbit, you could do the activity again, but this time
you hold the axis straight up. While the globe turns around the lamp,
the light intensity doesnt change anywhere (see Figure above). In this
case, we would only speak of (horizontal) climate bands. Pedro would
always catch the sunlight from a straight angle. Moni and Michael, who
are farther away from the equator, receive less sunlight and are colder.
Moving farther away, towards the poles, it gets increasingly colder.
Related activities: 3.5
61

62

2.6

Solar
Eclipse

Brief Description
Visualise a solar eclipse by creating a shadow on a globe with a small ball.

Keywords



Earth
Sun
Moon
Eclipse

Materials
Globe (Box)
Moon sphere (Box)
Flash light

Learning Objectives
Learn the mechanisms behind a solar eclipse.

Background Science
By sheer coincidence, the apparent sizes of the Moon and the Sun in the
sky are equal. The Moon is many times smaller than the Sun, but it is also
closer to Earth, in the right proportion. As a consequence, when the Moon is
exactly between the Sun and the Earth, the solar disk on the sky is exactly
covered by the Moon. This makes a solar eclipse extra special!

63

On the picture below, Moni is standing in Africa. It is shortly before noon, and
the Moon circling around the Earth is exactly aligned with the Sun and the
Earth. And then it happens: as seen by Moni, the Moon shifts in front of the

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

Moni is in Africa. Because the Moon is exactly between the Sun and the Earth, it will shortly
cover the Sun on the sky and cast a shadow on the Earth (left picture). Soon thereafter,
the shadow reaches Moni: everything turns dark and the animals go to sleep. The left image
also reveals the umbra, or complete shadow on Earth, which is darkest, and the penumbra, or
partial shade, which is not as dark.

Sun, covers it and Moni is standing in the Moons shadow. The temperature
drops and it gets dark as night. The animals think its time to sleep!
The Moon is too small to put the entire Earth at once in its shadow. During
a solar eclipse, it only marks the Earth with a small black dot. This shadow
travels across Earths surface, because the Earth spins and the Moon moves.
When you experience a partial solar eclipse, you live just outside the area
where the Moon fully blocks the Sun.
Other sources: Movie explaining solar eclipse: http://goo.gl/7Z4HJ

Full description
Place a globe (Earth) on a table and glue a toy figure (see Appendix) on
the country you are in.
Now shine a flash light on it (Sun) and hold a small white ball (Moon)
between the globe and the light, creating a shadow just east (right) of the
toy figure.
Then slowly spin the Earth from west to east (left to right), eventually
covering the figure with the shadow.
Explain to the children that this is what happens during a solar eclipse.
Tip: To make the story more vivid, tell a short introduction in which the figure
is doing something fun, and then suddenly it gets dark.
Related activities: 2.8, 3.2
64

Credit: ESO

65

66

2.7

Lunar
Eclipse

Brief Description
Visualise a lunar eclipse by creating a shadow on a small ball with a globe.

Keywords



Earth
Sun
Moon
Eclipse

Materials
Globe (Box)
Moon sphere (Box)
Flash light

Learning Objectives
Learn the mechanisms behind a lunar eclipse.

Background Science
The Moon not only causes solar eclipses, it can also get dark itself. How
does that happen? As the Earth is illuminated on one side by the Sun, it
casts a shadow behind it at the same time. Sometimes it happens that the
moon, on its way around the Earth, crosses the Earth shadow. That is, the
Earth gets in between the Sun and the Moon and covers the moon with its
shadow, causing a lunar eclipse.
67

If there were people living on the Moon, they would see this as a solar
eclipse! However, instead of getting completely dark, the lunar surface
glows reddish. The Suns light is refracted into the shadowed area by the
Earths atmosphere. Because the light has travelled a long distance through
our Earths atmosphere, it is reddish as in a sunset. Thus, the Moon looks
rather coppery than black during a lunar eclipse. It is interesting to note that
the redder the Moon, the dustier our atmosphere!
In ancient Greece, philosopher and scientist Aristotle closely observed lunar
eclipses and concluded from it that the Earth must be round. How? If you
look very closely at the photograph on the right, you clearly recognise the
Earths shadow is round! This is proof of the spherical shape of the Earth!
Other sources: Movie explaining lunar eclipse: http://goo.gl/UJCdW

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

Credit: University of South Africa

The Moon glows red during a lunar eclipse.

Full description
Place a globe (Earth) on a table and shine a flash light on it (Sun).
Now slowly move a small white ball (Moon) behind the globe, making it
travel through the Earths shadow.
Explain to the children that this is what happens during a lunar eclipse.
Tip: Notify the children when there will be a lunar eclipse, or organise a
class activity around the subject! Lunar eclipses occur two to three times a
year.
Related activities: 2.7

68

Credit: NASA

The Sun, Our


Home Star
69

Introduction

As seen from Earth, the Sun is the brightest and most noticeable celestial body much brighter
than the Moon and, above all, much brighter than the little stars in the night sky. However, the
Sun actually is just a regular star: it is just as big as most stars. It seems so much brighter to us
because the Sun is by far the closest star. Much of what we know about stars we have learnt
from closely observing our Sun.
The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old and has a diameter of 1.39 million km. This corresponds
to a chain of 109 Earths or 400 Moons! That is so immensely huge that our Earth alone would
fit one million times into the volume of the Sun. Its distance to the Earth is about 100 times the
Suns diameter: 149.6 million km. Within a little over 25 days it rotates once around its axis,
even a bit faster on its equator than near the poles.
On the outside, the Suns temperature is about 5700 Celsius, and deep within the core its about
15 million degrees Celsius. The Sun, like most stars, is a hot ball of gas, composed of about 73%
hydrogen and 25% helium. The rest are heavier elements like iron, oxygen and carbon. The Suns
outer layers push so hard on the inside with their weight that enough pressure builds up in the
core to make atoms crash into each other. Atoms are tiny particles that make up any substance.
While crashing into each other, atoms fuse, thereby forming a new type of atom. For example,
four hydrogen cores can fuse into one helium core. During this process, energy is released in the
form of heat!

Credit: NASA

70

Solar Facts

Age

About 4.6 billion years

Diameter

1,392,684 km (109 Earths in a row)

Mass

2 thousand billion billion billion kg


(2 x 1030 kg)

Distance to the Earth

150,000,000 km (1 astronomical unit)

Rotation period around own


axis

About 25 earth days

Temperature

5,700 C on the surface and 15 million C


in the centre

Gravity

If you could stand on the surface, you


would be 28 times as heavy compared
to your weight on Earth

Composition

73% hydrogen, 25% helium, 2% other


elements, like iron, oxygen and carbon

Fun fact

Although the Sun is just a normal star,


compared to a planet it is still huge.
The Earth would fit over one million
times into the volume of the Sun!

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72

3.1

Apparent
Size

Brief Description
Look at the size of spheres on a floor or table top at different distances
to understand why some look bigger than others, and understand how
eclipses occur.

Keywords
Sun
Size

Materials
3 balls of equal size
One large ball (about double the size)

Learning Objectives
Learn why the Moon looks as big as the Sun and why the Sun looks bigger
than other stars.

Background Science
Although the Sun looks like the largest star, its just as big as most stars
that we see in the night sky. The reason why it appears so bright and big
compared to other stars in the sky is that it is much closer to us. The stars
that we can see in the night sky are simply much farther away from Earth
than the Sun, which is why they appear so small and less bright. If we
could line up all those stars and our Sun at the same distance from Earth,
our Sun would only be of intermediate brightness compared to the other
stars. Astronomers therefore differentiate between the apparent and the
absolute brightness of a celestial body.
73

The Moon is even closer to the Earth than is the Sun. This makes it look like
the same size as the Sun, although its many times smaller. The fact that
the apparent size in the sky is exactly the same for Sun and Moon is sheer
coincidence. The Sun is 400 times larger in diameter than the Moon, but by
coincidence also 400 times farther away. This has a nice side effect: during
a solar eclipse, when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, the Moon
completely covers the Sun! If the Moon were just a little bit smaller or farther
away from us, that wouldnt be possible.

Earth is invisible at this scale


Jupiter is about 1 pixel in size

Sun

Sirius

Pollux

Arcturus

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

Some stars are even much bigger than our Sun.

Full description

Ask the children to put three balls of equal size on the floor, at different
distances of 1 meter, 5 meters and 10 meters.
Now ask them which ball looks biggest to them. But werent all balls the
same sizes? It seems that the further away an object is, the smaller it
appears.
Put one small and one large ball (about twice the size of the small one)
next to each other at about one meter from the children. How could the
small one block the larger one?
Place the large ball one meter farther away, behind the small ball. At this
particular distance, the small ball (Moon) completely covers the large ball
(Sun). Because the balls diameters differ by a factor of two, they look the
same size if their distance also differs by a factor of two!
Related activities: 2.7

74

3.2

Invisible
Light

Brief Description
Make infrared radiation visible by looking at a remote control
through the camera of a mobile phone to discover invisible light.

Keywords
Sun
Light
Infrared

Materials
Infrared remote control
Mobile phone with camera

Learning Objectives
Learn about the special invisible light that the Sun emits, such
as infrared.

Background Science
The Sun provides us with light and heat. Without this source, life could not
have developed on Earth. The indispensable sunlight looks white to us.
White seems to be one specific colour, but actually is a composition of many
colours. In the same way orange is a composition of red and yellow, white
is a composition of all colours. So sunlight consists of all colours we can see,
and a rainbow clearly shows this. When the Sun shows its face on a rainy
day, its light is refracted in the water drops and split into its components.
All visible colours can be seen in a rainbow. We call this the visible light
75

because our eyes can see it. Above the red range and below the blue range,
however, there are two additional colours, infrared and ultraviolet (UV),
respectively. Its just that our eyes are not made to see those. Above and
below these special colours, there are even weirder sorts of light. These
invisible types either have very high energy, like for example X-rays, which
we use in hospitals to see through our bodies, or low energy, like infrared
radiation, whose properties are used in TV remote controls. In order to be able
to see this special light, we need appropriate instruments.

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

But why exactly does the Sun shine with all this light? In its interior, the
Sun transforms hydrogen into helium. This process called nuclear fusion
releases lots of energy. This energy keeps the Sun as hot as it is. And like a
light bulb in a lamp, the Sun glows because of its high temperature. If you
look inside a toaster, you can also see it glow. Because its not as hot as the
Sun, it only shines with red light. The Sun, however, is so hot that it shines
with all possible kinds of light, including X-rays, infrared and UV!
Other sources: Electromagnetic spectrum: http://goo.gl/NS21B

Full description
Ask the children to take a remote control and press a button. An infrared
signal should be coming out of the remote, but why cant you see it? Is it
broken?
Now let them do the same thing again, but this time make a movie of it
with their mobile phone instead of looking at it with their bare eyes.
Ask them to look at the screen: a light signal does appear, the remote still
works! The reason they can now see the signal is that the camera of their
phone can see infrared light and projects it on the screen as visible light.
Human eyes cannot see infrared.
Tip: You can also ask the children to perform the activity themselves at home.
Let them surprise their parents!
76

3.3

Suns
Shadow

Brief Description
Watch shadows during the course of day to explore the influence of the
Suns position in the sky.

Keywords
Sun
Shadow

Materials

Nice weather

Learning Objectives
Discover the influence of the Suns position on shadows, and learn about
the solar path in the sky.

Background Science
If the Suns rays are incident on an object, it will cast a shadow oriented
away from the Sun. Our experience shows that the shadow always
moves clockwise around the object casting it. Its length continuously
diminishes between sunrise and noon and, afterwards, prolongs again
correspondingly.
However, the shadow length changes not only in the course of a day
but also during a year: for example, a noon shadow is much shorter in
summer than in winter!
At this stage, we relate this phenomenon with seasons (previous chapter)
and with the angle in which the Suns light reaches the surface of the
Earth. For more background science, see activity 3.4.
77

Full description
Ask the children to explore everything in their school related to the solar
shadow. For example, how do the shadows of the trees in the schoolyard
change during a day? Which parts of the classroom does the Sun shine
into in the morning or at noon? What direction does the shadow point to
relative to the Sun? When is the shadow smallest, and when is it largest?
Is there a practical application for our observation?
Tip: Repeat the exercise in the next season. Did the shadows at noon get
bigger? This will be the case if the season got colder (e.g., from autumn to
winter). Did the shadows at noon get smaller? This will be the case if the
season got warmer (e.g., from winter to spring).
The cardinal directions can be memorised by means of a mnemonic (in
clockwise direction): Never Eat Soggy Waffles!
Related activities: 3.4

78

3.4

Suns Path
and a Sundial

Brief Description
Build a sundial and a horizon model to analyse the suns path across the sky.

Keywords



Sun
Sundial
Solar path
Time

Materials







Wooden plate with landscape motives


Toy figures (Appendix)
Transparent acrylic half-sphere (sky sphere)
Circular stickers of different colours for three solar paths (summer,
spring/autumn and winter)
Copy of the sundial on stiff cardboard (Appendix)
Colour pencils
Scissors
Glue

Learning Objectives
Learn about the path of the sun during the day at different times of the
year.

Background Science
Depending on whether we can see the sun in the sky or not, we call it day
or night. Our day begins with sunrise and ends with sunset; accordingly,
the night begins with sunset and ends with sunrise. Thereby, the sun
always rises in the east, reaches its highest point in the south and sets in
the west. At least on the Northern Hemisphere. On the southern, the sun
79

79

moves from east to west through the north. These observations are easily
reconstructed using a horizon model:
With this self-made model, students can easily reconstruct the suns
path on the sky, as in the Explore Science exhibition in the Luisenpark
Mannheim in 2011.

Credit: Natalie Fischer

The model consists of a white wooden plate with landscape motives. In


the middle stands the figure of a child, Oscar. Over the plate there is a
transparent acrylic half-sphere (sky sphere), on which the three solar paths
(summer, spring/autumn and winter) are glued. In the picture, the paths
represent the situation in Germany. The horizon is where the landscape disk
and the sky sphere touch. The Sun is represented by a strong torch, which
the children can move across the sphere.
Atmosphere
W
S

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

N
E

Horizon

Spring path (middle path)


On 21 March, the sun moves along the middle path on the sky. Oscars
shadow is longer when the Sun is at a low point. At noon, when the Sun is
at its highest point, Oscars shadow is as short as it gets during that day.
80

Summer path (upper path)


The suns path rises more and more during spring, until it reaches its
highest level on 21 June. That day, the sun follows the summer path. The
children will notice that the sun has to travel a longer path across the sky
than in spring: the days last longer. The sun does not rise exactly in the
east anymore, nor does it set exactly in the west, as both points are shifted
northwards along the horizon. As compared to the situation on 21 March,
Oscars shadow is smaller at noon. Still, his shadow length changes during
the day.
Autumn path (middle path)
On 21 September, the suns path has reached the same level it has on 21
March; the autumn path is the same as the spring path. The shadows at
noon are the same, just like the length of a day.
Winter path (lower path)
On 21 December, the suns path reaches its lowest point: the winter path.
Again, the sun does not rise exactly in the east or set exactly in the west.
Only this time, both points are shifted southwards along the horizon,
instead of northwards. 21 December is the shortest day of the year, and the
shadows at noon are the longest compared to the noon shadows during the
rest of the year. Still, the shadow lengths change during the day.
Other parts of the world
The above descriptions of the solar paths during the year only account
for the Northern Hemisphere. On the other half of the world, summer and
winter are exactly the other way around.
At the equator and the poles, the extreme regions on Earth, it is a different
story.
At the North or South Pole, the suns path is parallel to the horizon. It has a
height of 23.4 degrees above the horizon in summer at the North Pole. This
corresponds to the inclination of the Earths axis. A horizontal path means
that there is no nighat. During the year, the path sinks down and vanishes
below the horizon on 21 September. From then on, it stays dark for half a
year, until the suns path
peaks above the horizon
Pole
again on 21 March. On the
Atmosphere
South Pole, the opposite
happens. During the eternal
night on the North Pole,
penguins at the South Pole
enjoy daylight that lasts
for six months. If Oscar
stands on one of the poles,
Horizon
his shadow length doesnt
change during the day.
81

At the equator, the suns path is vertical to the horizon.


On 21 March and 21 September, the sun moves across the sky from east,
through the zenith, to the west. If Oscar would stand on the equator on 21
March at noon, he would have no
shadow at all!
Equator
On 21 June and 21 December, the
paths are shifted by 23.4 degrees
to the north or south, respectively.
It is noticeable on the equator
that the twilight is very short,
because the sun sets and rises at a
right angle with the horizon. The
sun doesnt slowly slope down
sideways, as in, for example,
Europe, but instead goes straight
down.

Atmosphere
W
S

N
E

Horizon

Full description
Because we know all about the different paths the Sun travels across the sky
at different locations and different dates, we can use a sundial to measure
time!
Ask the children to cut out and paint all three parts of the sundial from
the Appendix.
Then let them fold them according to the instruction on the copies (see
picture): the big clock-face is folded by 90 degrees with the coloured
surface to the inside, and so are the two small quarter circles at the two
triangles.
Next, they glue both triangles to each other such that a pair of quarter
circles form one half circle.
Finally, they glue these half circles on the top and bottom of the big clockface.
Let the children place the finished sundial on a sunlit place (e.g., the
windowsill) and rotate it until the edge of the shadow casts onto the
clock-face. Now the triangle indicates the time like a clock-hand. Around
noon, the triangle casts no shadow (it points south).

82

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Tip: With a wooden plate, toy figures (see Appendix), round stickers and
a glass sphere you can build a horizon model. With this, the children can
discover themselves how the suns path influences Oscars shadow, in
relation to both the time of the day and the year.
Related activities: 3.3

83

84

3.5

Varying day
lengths

Brief Description
Observe that different places on Earth have different day lengths by shining
a light bulb on different sides of a spinning globe.

Keywords
Earth
Time
Day length

Materials
Globe (box)
Light bulb on a stand (box)

Learning Objectives
Understand the cause of variation in day lengths: why winter days are
shorter than summer days.

Background Science
Day and night are caused by the spinning of the Earth around its own axis.
If that axis were perpendicular to the Earths orbit around the Sun, every
day would last exactly twelve hours on any location, as would every night.
In reality, the Earths axis is tilted causing day lengths to vary. During
winter, days are short and the cold nights seem to last forever, while the
sultry summer days are seemingly endless, merely interrupted by short
nights.
Dates
In December, the Earth has its Southern Hemisphere slightly turned to the

85

Sun (see figure). This causes the South Pole to receive sunlight 24 hours per
day. During the Christmas period, there are literally days with no end on
Antarctica! At the same time, people in the Arctic Circle (around the North
Pole) live in eternal darkness: the sun doesnt rise for days on end! (On the
exact geographic North Pole, it is dark continuously for six months straight
between September and March.) In June, the situation is the other way
around: its summer on the Northern Hemisphere and around the North Pole
days do not end.
On 21 September and 21 March, the Earth has its equator turned at a right
angle to the Sun. These are the only days when day and night each last twelve
hours on any location. On the Northern hemisphere, daytime lasts less than
twelve hours between September and March, with a minimum on 21 December
(shortest day). However, between March and September days last longer than
twelve hours, with a peak on 21 June (longest day).

Summer (N)

Winter (S)

Spring (N)
Autumn (S)

Winter (N)

Autumn (N)
Spring (S)

Summer (S)

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

Locations
The farther away from the equator you go, the more extreme variations
in day lengths get. We already discussed the extremes of the North Pole
above, where the Sun doesnt set or rise for months on end. In less extreme
regions, for example, in Europe, the sun rises and sets every day. In for
example, Denmark, winter days get as short as seven hours, while summer
days get as long as 18 hours. Further south, in Switzerland, the variation is
not so extreme: winter days last a minimum of eight hours, while summer
days dont get longer than 16 hours. And at the most southern place of the
Northern Hemisphere the equator the variation in day lengths is at an
absolute minimum: zero. For example, Quito (Ecuador) lies on the equator,
and there days always last twelve hours, regardless of the season.

Full description
Take a globe (on a tilted axis) and hold it next to a bright light bulb (at
the same height). The room should be dim, so you can clearly see the light
bulb shining on the globe.
86

To start, put the light bulb on a spot where most of its light will shine
on the Southern Hemisphere (see figure). This represents winter on the
Northern Hemisphere.
Now slowly spin the globe around its axis. Focus on the country you
are in. As an example, we will use Germany. Why does Germany spend
more time in the dark than in daylight?
Move the globe to the other side of the lamp. You just skipped half a
year (half an orbit of the Earth around the Sun). Now the Northern
Hemisphere is more directed towards the light bulb: its summer in
Germany.
Spin the globe again. The children will notice that this time, Germany
spends more time in daylight than in the dark. They will understand
that the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun, together with
Earths tilted axis, cause day lengths to shift.
Now spin the globe again, and this time ask the children to focus on the
North Pole. Why does it stay lit all the time? The Sun doesnt set there
in summer! Also watch the South Pole: it stays dark, even though you
are spinning the globe!
Place the globe to the other side of the lamp again, where you started
the activity. Look at the poles again: why is the light distribution the
other way around now?
Continue with the activity by watching Ecuador on the equator
while the globe is spinning. Notice that it is lit equally as long as it is
dark, no matter how you hold the globe. Apparently, countries on the
equator are not affected by summer or winter. Place the globe wherever
you want: a day in Ecuador always lasts 12 hours. The children will
notice that the further you move away from the equator, towards the
poles, the variations in day lengths get more extreme.
To end with, place the globe in a position where its spring on one
hemisphere and autumn on the other (a quarter orbit around the light
bulb from where you started). Again, spin the globe. Any place on Earth
receives 12 hours of daylight. 21 March and 21 September are therefore
the true switching points between summer and winter.
Tip: While carrying out the activity, dont forget that the Earths axis
always points in one and the same direction (to the polar star)!
Related activities: 2.4, 2.5, 3.4

87

88

3.6

Solar
Surface

Brief Description
Imitate the solar surface by boiling water with herbs.

Keywords
Sun
Granulation

Materials





Cooking plate
Pan
Water
Dried herbs (2 table spoons)
Oil
Beaker

Learning Objectives
Learn about the texture of the Sun, what its surface looks like and the
convection of gases within it.

Background Science
With the naked eye, the Sun looks like a yellow disk without any surface
features. In reality, however, it is more like a pot of bubbling soup, which
sometimes splashes enormously and whose surface sometimes changes from
minute to minute. We dont notice this fact, because the Sun is so bright
that it overshines all surface details. This is also the reason that it is very
dangerous to observe the Sun without any suitable equipment: if we looked
at it directly, the Sun would blind our naked eyes!
89

Astronomers do not only observe the Sun in the visible light. They take
pictures in, for example, ultraviolet light. These pictures look very unusual
and often reveal what we cannot see with the naked eye.

Credit: NASA / SOHO

Various pictures of the Sun photographed at the same time but with different sorts
of light. The right picture was taken in visible light. (Source: NASA/SOHO)
Protuberances
If all of the solar disk is covered, like during a solar eclipse, we can see arcs
of light at the edge of the Sun, so-called protuberances. By the way, some
of these arcs are so large that the Earth would fit into them several times!
Granulation

Credit: NASA

If we looked at the Sun through a larger, sufficiently protected telescope,


we could see a honeycomb-like structure, so-called granulation. This
structure covers the whole Sun like a net. Here, again, the comparison
with a pot of bubbling soup is suitable the soup heated at the bottom
of the pot rises up in many places, cools down a bit at the top and sinks
down again. In this way, a continual motion is created. Because the cooled
and sinking matter on the Sun appears less bright than the rising, hot
matter, we get the impression of seeing a net of cells. These cells are called
convection cells.
90

Credit: NASA

Other sources: Short movie of solar granulation: http://goo.gl/339lN

Full description
Pour a 2-cm layer of water in a pan with 2 tablespoons of dried herbs.
Now turn on the cooking plate. After a while, convection cells will begin
to form. Inside, water rises up, and at the edges, it sinks back down.
There, the herbs concentrate. The whole scene will look like granulation
at the Suns surface (see figure).

Credit: NASA

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Sun granulation in the cooking pot: the situation on the solar surface (left picture)
is like the one in our experiment (right picture).
Next lets look at convection more closely. Fill a beaker with oil and herbs
and put it on the lit warmer. Observe the result. Above the warmer, the
fluid starts to move. You will notice that the herbs get carried along by the
fluid. The herbs rise up. After several minutes, you can observe the herbs
sinking down at the rim. A circulating convection movement develops.

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92

3.7 Mini Research Project:


Suns Rotation

Brief Description
Determine the rotation of the Sun by observing sunspots over the
course of a few weeks.

Keywords
Sun
Sunspots

Materials

1 SolarScope, several sheets of ISO A5 transparencies

Learning Objectives
Learn about the Suns rotation about its own axis.

Background Science
The Sun needs about 25 days for one rotation around itself. In order to
measure this ourselves, we need to look out for an object on the solar
surface that shares this motion. To do so, so-called sunspots are suitable.
If we look at the darkened Sun, e.g., through eclipse glasses filtering out
99.999% of the light, we can sometimes recognise sunspots on the solar
disk. They look like black spots circled by a somewhat brighter seam. In
reality, they are also very bright, but they look darker compared to the
surrounding glistening surface of the Sun. They look darker because of
the temperature difference of several hundred degrees between the cooler
sunspots and their hotter surroundings.
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The look of the sunspots continuously changes. Some spots get bigger and
bigger, and additional spots often form in the immediate vicinity. This is
called sunspot groupings. The lifetime of a sunspot or sunspot grouping is
several days as a rule, but it can sometimes reach several weeks. Every 11
years, the number of sunspots strongly increases. Astronomers call this an
11-year sunspot cycle. With an increasing number of sunspots, the general
activity of the Sun also increases. As the Sun rotates around itself, the
sunspots also change their position: they rotate with the Sun. If we observe
a sunspot over a longer time span, we can assess the Suns rotation period
on the basis of its movement.

Credit: NASA

Full description

Credit: Natalie Fisher

94

Ask the children to observe the Sun


every two to three days through a
SolarScope.

Let them stick one ISO A5


transparency to the projection side.
The SolarScope projects the image
of the Sun, which enters the interior
of the SolarScope through the small
telescope, onto the opposite side of
the projector, by means of a small
mirror.

Then have them draw the visible


edge of the Sun on the sheet with a
pen.

Subsequently, they draw all projected sunspots onto the sheet (little
dots are sufficient). But beware: as the Earth is rotating, the solar disk is
always moving away from the sheet. The children therefore should work
expeditiously and re-adjust the SolarScope from time to time by rotating
it.

Finally, they label the transparency with the location, date, time and
observers names.

Only a few days later, the children will notice all sunspots have
changed their positions. They have moved on as the Sun rotates around
its axis. In the course of the next few weeks, some spots appear for
the first time at the edge, move across the solar surface and disappear
again at the other edge. Other spots suddenly appear in the midst of the
solar surface and/or disappear again.

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Evaluation
After several observations, the children can analyse their drawings.
First, they identify the spots. Thereafter, they number them beginning
with the first sheet. If a spot appears again in a successive observation,
it keeps its number. If the spot has disappeared, its number is not
further used. If a new spot appears, it is assigned a new number.
If we now stack the transparencies on an overhead projector, we see
that all sunspots traverse the Sun. In doing so, they travel a certain
distance on the sheet. The spots need half a Sun rotation to move
from one solar edge to the other. Hence, we are able to determine the
duration of one solar rotation: pick a sunspot that could be observed
as long as possible, and measure its distance on the transparency in
centimetres. Then compare
this with the distance it would
have travelled if one had
West
observed it from one solar
edge to the other. The ratio of
these two numbers equals that
East
of the observation time span
and half(!) a solar rotation
period (as we cannot observe
the path of the sunspot on the
backside of the Sun). We can
do this calculation with several
spots and then average the
results.
Example
Sunspot F1 has travelled 7.7 cm (red line) in 8 days of a maximum possible
12.3 cm (blue and red lines), which corresponds to a ratio of 7.7 cm / 12.3 cm
= 0.63. Travelling the complete distance (from edge to edge) would have
95

taken the spot 8 days / 0.63 = 12.7 days. This corresponds to a rotation period
of 2 12.7 days = 25.4 days. You have measured the Suns spin!
Tip: Watch out: observing the Sun is a dangerous exercise! The Sun is the
most school-friendly observational object in astronomy, as it can be observed
during school time. Also, it changes its appearance in reasonable time spans
and is always easy to find. HOWEVER, looking at the Sun directly, i.e.,
without protection, will severely damage your eyes! A careless look at the
Sun through an optical device (e.g., a telescope) is enough to be blinded
forever. The Sun burns into the retina and irreparably destroys the optic
nerve.
There are, however, effective methods for observing the Sun. One possibility
is to buy eclipse glasses. These are glasses made of a special foil that filters
out 99.999% of the light. Such foils are also available for telescopes and
binoculars.

Credit: Natalie Fisher

96

Ideas for incorporating the Sun


into other subjects

Arts
Children are fascinated and inspired by the enormous power of the Sun and its
continuously changing surface. Look at real pictures of the Sun with the class. Just
search online for the keywords Sun, sunspots or protuberances and look at the
pictures. Let the children draw the Sun, if possible on a large sheet of paper. You can also
try to draw sun images on black-coloured cards with bright chalk.

Mathematics
The Sun is huge. A pearl chain with 109 Earth-sized pearls would correspond to its
diameter, and 1 million of these pearls would fit into its interior. Such mental exercises
can be reconstructed with suitable vessels and little spheres (marbles, pearls, cubes,
etc.). If we used pearls of the Moons size, we would need 400 of them in a row to get
from one solar edge to the other.

Environment
The heat of the Sun is essential to us. Some things on earth, however, get warmer
than others if they are lit by the Sun. For example, most children have once burnt their
feet on the hot beach and jumped onto the cooler towel. Ask the children to re-enact
different situations on earth, e.g., the sea, desert, forest etc. For this activity, let them
select different materials that are lit by the Sun. They should feel the temperature with
their hands and/or measure it with a thermometer. Suitable materials include two tubs
of water (one with much water, one with little water), one tub of water with a black
bottom, one tub of sand, another tub of flower soil (a part shaded by plants, another
not), concrete stones, etc.
Another possible question could be: Couldnt one utilise this heat? A visit from an energy
representative or a visit to a solar park is always enriching.

Humanities
The Sun was worshipped as a deity in many cultures. Ask the children to research this topic.
97

98

Credit: NASA / JPL

Our Solar System

99

Introduction

The Solar System, in which we live, consists of the Sun as its central star, eight planets
with their moons and several dwarf planets. Together with hundreds of thousands of
asteroids (boulders) and comets, these celestial bodies orbit the Sun.
The Earth is a very special planet among these celestial bodies. It is our home! In order
to understand its uniqueness, children need to compare the Earth to the other planets in
the Solar System. As the Earth is located about 150 million kilometres from the Sun, the
temperature is exactly right for liquid water to be present on the surface, unlike on most
other planets. This proved crucial for the development of life!
The Solar System as a whole is part of the Milky Way system, a collection of about 200
billion stars that are arranged in a spiral, along with gas and dust. Billions of these stars
have planets and these, in turn, have moons. This suggests that we are probably not alone
in the Milky Way, but the distances between the stars are so big that a visit to another
world would be very difficult.

Credit: Wikimedia Common / Nick Risinger

100

Credit: NASA / JPL

Even the star nearest to us, Proxima Centauri, is 4.22 light years (i.e., over 40 trillion km)
away from us. This is so distant that a journey there would take generations of human
lives.

Mercury Venus Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Rocky Planets

Saturn

Gas Giants

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

We can categorise the planets of our Solar System into two types: the rocky planets,
which are nearest to the Sun and have a solid surface, and the gas giants, which are
farther from the Sun and are more massive and mainly composed of gas. Mercury,
Venus, Earth and Mars appear in the former category, and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune make up the latter. Pluto, our formerly outermost planet, has been considered
one of the dwarf planets since 2006. Between Mars and Jupiter is a so-called asteroid
belt, which circles the Sun like a ring. It consists of thousands of smaller and larger
boulders. The largest of these have their own names, just like the planets. One of them,
Vesta, is so large that it is considered a dwarf planet. For more information on planets in
our Solar System, see Backgroud Science in activiy 4.1.
Planets that orbit other stars than our Sun are called extrasolar planets or exoplanets for
short. Astronomers have already discovered more than 900 of these exoplanets.

101

102

4.1

Know Your
Planets

Brief Description
Play a card game with the Sun and its planets. Ask questions and read
answers from the cards.

Keywords



Sun
Planets
Solar System
Cards

Materials



Card game (Box)


Planets and Sun (flat) (Box)
Coloured pencils
Scissors

Learning Objectives
Learn about the properties of the different planets.

Background Science
Planets are spherical bodies orbiting a star. They have sufficient mass to
have purged their orbits of all larger and smaller boulders thanks to their
gravitational pull. Dwarf planets are also spherical and orbit a star, but
they have small masses and therefore such a weak gravitation that they
are not capable of attracting smaller boulders in their vicinity. Moons are
often spherical as well, depending on their size, but they orbit planets.
Each of the planets in our Solar System has very specific features. We
have summarised them in the fact files below. The following rule of
thumb is valid in the Solar System: small planets lie close to the Sun and
are made of solid material, while large planets are farther away from the
Sun and are mainly composed of gas.
103

Rocky Planets
The four rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) are very dense
(solid) and comparatively small. Their atmospheres are very thin, with the
exception of that of Venus.
Mercury
Mercury is the planet nearest to the
Sun. It has no atmosphere and its
solid surface, like that of our Moon, is
covered with many craters. Mercury
orbits the Sun once in just 88 days
and has no moons. There are severe
temperature differences on its surface:
380 C on the side facing the Sun,
and -180 C on the night side! This
is because day and night shift very
slowly on Mercury, because of its slow
spin. Also, there is no atmosphere to
trap the heat at night.

Credit: NASA

Venus
Venus is about as large as the Earth.
Carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas)
makes up 99% of its atmosphere,
which causes sunlight to get trapped
in this mega greenhouse. Whether it is
day or night, it is always very hot on
Venus: almost 500 C! Venus spin on
its own axis is inverted compared to
the spins of other planets.
Credit: NASA

Earth
Earth is the only planet in the Solar
System that has liquid water on its
surface, significant amounts of oxygen
in the air and moderate temperatures.
It orbits the Sun once a year. Its stable
axis (inclined 23 degrees) results in
seasons. Furthermore, it is the only
celestial body on which we have found
life so far.
Credit: NASA

104

Mars

Credit: NASA

Mars is half the size of the Earth. Its


reddish colour is caused by iron oxide
(rust). It has a very thin atmosphere,
which mainly consists of carbon
dioxide. One of its special features is its
many volcanoes, which reach heights
of up to 23,000 metres! Mars has two
moons and needs about twice as much
time as the Earth to orbit the Sun.
Like Earth, it also has seasons, as its
rotation axis is inclined.

Gas Giants
The gas giants (so-called because they are larger compared to other planets)
consist of a mighty atmosphere and a relatively small solid core.

Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest planet in our
Solar System. Like all giant planets,
it mainly consists of gas and has a
solid core. It has a remarkable red
spot on its surface, that is two times
the size of the Earth! This spot is a
huge cyclone which has been raging
for more than 400 years. Due to its
significant gravitational pull, Jupiter
attracts many asteroids and thus
protects us from their impact. It has
around 60 moons and is composed
mainly of hydrogen and helium.

Credit: NASA

Saturn

Credit: NASA

Saturn is surrounded by large


rings and therefore earns
its nickname Lord of the
rings. These rings consist of
numerous small ice grains.
Saturns atmosphere has a
fairly low density: Saturn is
the only planet in the Solar
System that could float on
water. It has many moons:
more than 60!
105

Uranus
Uranus has a few thin rings. It
rotates around the Sun on its
belly, which is probably due to
the fact that it was overturned by
a collision. Its surface looks very
smooth and barely shows any
structure. It has 27 moons.

Credit: NASA

Neptune
Neptunes surface has a blue
colour, like that of Uranus.
White clouds fly over its surface
at speeds of over 1000 km/hr.
Neptunes path sometimes crosses
the orbit of dwarf planet Pluto.
Credit: NASA

Dwarf Planet
Pluto
Pluto is composed of ice and rock. In 2006, astronomers decided that Pluto
is no longer a planet but only a dwarf planet, although it is spherical. Due
to its low mass, it cannot attract smaller boulders in its vicinity, as the real
planets do. Pluto has one larger and two smaller moons. It is so small and
far away that astronomers havent been able to take a clear picture of it!

Full description
First, ask the children to identify the pictures of the planets: which
planet is seen in which photo?
Let them arrange the photographs of the Sun and planets in the right
order.
Next, the children paint the pictures of the card game: which
peculiarities have to be taken into account?
Let the children cut the ten cards along the lines. On the back of
each card, there is a summary of the most important features of the
individual planets. At the bottom, there is a question, whose answer
106

indicates another celestial body in the Solar System. You need ten children
to play the game.
Shuffle the cards and hand every child one card.
Ask the children to memorise the exact properties of their celestial body.
The child with the sun card reads out loud the question on the bottom of
the back of its card. The answer should be called out only by that child
whose celestial body was sought. Then, this child can read out loud the
question on his/her card.
The game ends when its the turn again of the child with the sun card.
Tip: In order to better memorise the order of the eight planets in our Solar
System, use the following mnemonic: My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us
Nachos.

107

108

4.2

Solar System
Model

Brief Description
Paint and arrange spheres to form a model of the Solar System.

Keywords
Sun
Planets
Solar System

Materials





Plastic planets (Box)


Wooden Sun (Box)
Paint and brush (Box)
Planets pictures (flat) (Box)
Clay, cotton, papier mch
Tape measure

Learning Objectives
Learn about the sizes and order of the planets in the Solar System.

Background Science
See introduction 4.1

Full description
The instructor and
a small group of children should initially paint the plastic spheres
according to the pictures of the planets and the Sun: Mercury (3.5 mm),
Venus (10 mm), Earth (10 mm), Mars (5 mm), Jupiter (100 mm), Saturn
(85 mm), Uranus (35 mm), Neptune (35 mm), and Sun (150 mm).
109

Note that the sizes of the planetary spheres are not all to scale, so that they can
be handled better by the students.
Let all spheres dry.
Next, draw concentric circles at the outer edge of Saturns plastic ring. Pull
the ring over Saturn and fix it at its equator.
Using the plastic spheres and the pictures of the planets, together with the
children, create models of the planets and Sun by making balls of cotton,
clay, or papier mch. Use the table in activity 4.6 if you would like them to
use the exact diameter (to scale).
Place all planets on the table in the right order.

Credit: Natalie Fischer

Related activities: 4.3, 4.6

110

4.3

Seeing
Planets

Brief Description
Place the model of our solar
system on a cloth against a
banderol of stars to analyse
when the planets of the Solar
System are visible.
Credit: Natalie Fischer

Keywords
Sun
Planets
Solar System

Materials



Plastic planets (Box)


Plastic Sun (Box)
Blue cloth (Box)
Banderol of Zodiac (Box)

Learning Objectives
Learn about the locations of planets in our Solar System, and when we
can see them from Earth.

Background Science
See introduction 4.1

111

Full description
Spread a blue cloth on the floor.
Put the wooden Sun in the centre, with the planets around it in the right
order. Two of the planets (Mercury and Venus) should be located between
the Sun and the Earth, with the others behind the Earth.
First, remove all planets except Venus, Mercury and Earth. Where is the
day and night side of the Earth? When is the only time we can see Venus
and/or Mercury? Venus and Mercury are only visible on the day side of the

Mercury
Venus

Mercury
Venus
Earth

Earth

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

Earth. Therefore, they can only be observed during the day (especially
during twilight, when the sunlight is not so bright anymore). They can
be observed in the western direction in the late evening (after the Sun
has just set there) or in the eastern direction in the early morning (just
before the Sun rises). In everyday language, Venus is called an evening
or morning star, because of its apparent brightness during those parts of
the day. However, Venus merely reflects sunlight, instead of producing
light itself, like stars do. In contrast, Mercury is difficult to see because
its even closer to the Sun, giving us a narrower time span to observe it.
Furthermore, its smaller
and farther away.
For simplicity, we now
only leave the Earth
and Jupiter on the cloth,
in addition to the Sun.
When can we see Jupiter
(and the other outer
planets)? This depends
on where it is in its orbit.
Sometimes it can be seen
at night, which makes
112

Credit: Natalie Fischer

it much easier to spot. Also, Jupiter is just like the other gas giants
much bigger than Mercury and Venus. The only disadvantage in terms
of visibility is that the gas giants are farther away from us.
Related activities: 4.2, 4.6

113

114

4.4

Asteroids

Brief Description
Make models of asteroids with clay and paint.

Keywords
Asteroids
Planet formation

Materials
Clay
Brushes
Paint

Learning Objectives
Learn about the characteristics and location of asteroids, and how planets
and asteroids form.

Background Science
Asteroids are boulders orbiting the Sun, with sizes ranging between some
hundred metres and several kilometres.
An asteroid is called a meteorite if it hits the Earth. If it completely
evaporates in the Earths atmosphere before crashing on the surface, its
called a meteor. People usually refer to meteors as shooting stars. Most
meteorites are predominantly composed of silicates or a mixture of iron and
nickel. In the past, some huge meteorites have struck the Earth. Sixty-five
million years ago, almost 90% of animal species were eradicated (among
them the dinosaurs) when a meteorite hit Yucatan, Mexico. Luckily, this
happens very rarely! We owe this to Jupiter, which attracts many asteroids
with its gravitational pull.
115

Credit: NASA / JAXA / Arecibo / NSF / ESA

Many asteroids form large rings or belts around the Sun. There are two
asteroid belts in our Solar System: the main belt (or simply called asteroid
belt) between Mars and Jupiter, with thousands of asteroids (see picture
below), and the Kuiper belt, named after its discoverer, a disk-shaped
region that extends outside of Neptunes orbit and contains countless
asteroids and many dwarf planets, of which Pluto is the most famous.
Jupiter

Mars

Earth
Asteroids
Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

Full description
Ask the children to take a piece of clay the size of their fist.
Let them divide it into small pieces and place these fragments on a table.
Now ask them to squeeze all the pieces together to form one large
asteroid, without kneading it.
Let them hit the clay chunk with the knuckle of a finger a few times.
After washing their hands, they can paint the asteroid.
116

Credit: S.Deiries / ESO

Explain to the children that asteroids really form this way: little pieces
clump together to form one giant rock. Planets also form this way. Around
every young star is a disc of little pieces of dust, out of which planets and
asteroids form.
Tip: You can also tell the children about comets. Comets are like dirty
snowballs or icy lumps of mud. They consist of a mixture of ice (from water
as well as from frozen gases) and dust. Like asteroids, comets revolve around
the Sun. However, their orbits are strongly elongated compared to planets,
meaning they occasionally get very close to the Sun, and at times they get
very far away. When they cross a planets orbit, they could collide with it. This
happened, for example, in 1994, when the comet Shoemaker-Levy collided
with planet Jupiter and broke into pieces. When comets come close to the Sun
in their orbit, the ice in their core melts and evaporates. This causes a beautiful
tail, which can be clearly seen in the night sky if the comet passes by the Earth
closely enough.
In 2061, Halleys Comet will once again come close to the Earth. It orbits our
Sun once every 76 years. Remember to mark its arrival on your calendar!

117

118

4.5

Planetary
Orbits

Brief Description
Create the elliptic orbit of the Earth around the Sun by drawing orbits with a
compass.

Keywords



Sun
Planets
Orbit
Ellipse

Materials




Plastic planets (Box)


Plastic Sun (Box)
Yellow rope (Box)
Two full bottles of water
Chalk

Learning Objectives
Learn about the elliptical orbits of planets.

Background Science
Planets do not orbit the Sun in perfect circles, but in ellipses. The definition of
a circle is that every point on the circle has the same distance to the centre.
For an ellipse, the definition is that every point on the ellipse has the same
combined distance to both focal points. In a planets orbit, the Sun acts as one
of the focal points. The other (imaginary) focal point is very close to the Sun
(compared to the large scales in question), making the ellipse almost a circle.
119

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Why are planetary orbits elliptical? There are three possible shapes of an
objects path (apart from a straight line, which isnt realistic since there are
always gravitational forces around): a parabola, a circle and an ellipse.
In the case of a parabola, a planet would fly in from outer space; its orbit
would be bent by the Sun, and it would fly off again to infinity. Of course,
the Solar System would run quickly out of planets if the orbits were shaped
like this. That leaves circular and elliptical orbits. Circular orbits are simply
too perfectly round to occur in nature. It would be infinitely coincidental if a
planet were to fly in a perfect circle. Hence, planets have elliptical orbits.

Full description
In order to graphically represent a circular orbit, knot two ropes together
and place them around a water-filled bottle and a piece of chalk. Make
sure the distance between the chalk and the bottle is such that the rope
is tensed.

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Now move the chalk around the bottle, like a compass, while keeping
the rope tensed. This way, a circle forms on the floor with the bottle in
the centre.
Next, remove the bottle and put the Suns model in its place. Put the
model of the Earth into the orbit. This completes the circular orbit. We
now have an approximation of Earths orbit, but not an exact model: the
orbit should be elliptical!
To construct an ellipse, we need two bottles filled with water, and a
piece of chalk.
120

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Place the rope around both bottles and the piece of chalk, and tense it
again. This time, the rope is shaped in a triangular form.
If the chalk now goes around both bottles with the rope tensed, the
result is an ellipse. In this model, the position of one of the bottles would
represent the Sun and the piece of chalk would be the planet.
Now replace one bottle and the chalk with the models of the Sun and
the Earth, and remove the other bottle. We have a realistic (although
probably exaggerated) model of Earths elliptical orbit around the Sun!
With the help of this method, very different ellipses can be constructed.
How does the shape of the ellipse change if we diminish the distance between
the bottles?
How does the shape of the ellipse change if we increase the distance
between the bottles?
In reality, the two focal points (bottles) are very close to each other, making
Earths orbit almost circular. Think about it: we dont even notice the varying
distance in temperature!
Mathematically, the weights or nails in our construction mark the so-called
foci of an ellipse. The larger their distance, the more elongated the ellipse
becomes. If a planet revolves on a very elliptic orbit, its distance from the
Sun will vary widely in the course of a revolution around the Sun: sometimes
it is very large, sometimes comparatively small.

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Tip: Note that the slightly varying distance of the Earth to the Sun does not
cause the seasonal changes (see activity 2.5).
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The children can also build their own models: with a panel made of
Styrofoam, wood or cork, a sheet of paper as a drawing plane, two nails
or pins, a cord and a pen, every child can draw and examine different
ellipses.
Related activities: 4.6

122

4.6

Distances
and Paths

Brief Description
Create a large model of the Solar System to scale by placing
proportionately sized balls at correct distances from each other in an open
field.

Keywords



Sun
Planets
Solar System
Scale

Materials
Plastic planets (Box)
Stability ball Sun (Box)
Tape measure

Learning Objectives
Develop a feeling of the vast distances in the Solar System, relative to the
planet sizes: the Solar System consists mostly of empty space. Learn to
calculate these distances with scales.

Background Science
The planets distances to the Sun and to each other are huge compared
to their sizes. Thus, one cannot sensibly depict all planets together.
Consequently, composite photographs are used in many textbooks. This
may create the false impression that the distances between all planets
are the same!
To fix this, you can construct a model of the Solar System yourself!
If you want to construct a model of our planetary system, you have to
123

get a sense of the sizes of the celestial bodies and their distances from the Sun.
Then you will realise that you have to use a different scale for the planet sizes
than for their mutual distances. Otherwise, either the planets paths will be
several kilometres long or the planets become so small that they cant be seen.
The following table reproduces the distances and sizes of the planets (sources
for columns 1 and 2: dtv-Atlas Astronomie, 2005).
If you prefer to build a small planetary system, you can also interpret the
distance from the Sun column as specifications in cm: the only important
aspect is the ratios between these numbers. Neptune would then be 2.25 m
from the Sun.

Celestial
body

Diameter
in reality
[km]

Diameter
scale 1:1.39
billion [cm]

Distance from
Sun in reality
[million km]

Distance from
Sun scale 1:20
billion [m]

Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune

1,392,000
4,878
12,104
12,756
6,794
142,984
120,536
51,118
49,528

100
0.35
0.87
0.92
0.49
10.27
8.66
3.67
3.56

57.9
108.2
149.6
227.9
778.3
1427.0
2869.6
4496.6

2.9
5.4
7.5
11.4
38.9
71.5
143.8
225.4

Full description
Take the children outside, preferably to an open space (e.g., a lawn in a
park).
Divide the children into ten groups and assign one ball to each group. For
the Sun, use the 100-cm stability ball (and not the wooden Sun).
Starting from the edge of the park, ask the children to move away from
you according to the distances in the right column of the table. Now they
have made a (somewhat) realistic model of the Solar System.
Notice the large distances: the Solar System mainly consists of vast
emptiness! In reality, the distances should even be 14 times larger!
Because the balls would then get too small, doing so would not be
practical. Using a scale of 1:1.39 billion, all planets have acceptable sizes,
but Neptune would be 3.2 km from the Sun. On the other hand, with the
use of a scale of 1:20 billion for distances, Neptune would be only 225.4 m
124

away from the Sun, but some planet diameters would be less than 1 mm.
Therefore, using two different scales is indeed practical, while still giving
the children a good sense of the vast distances in our Solar System.
Tip: If its raining outside, or there is no open place nearby, you could just do
the exercise with the Sun and the Earth, which will still leave an impression,
especially if you tell the children that in reality the distance should be 14
times larger.
Related activities: 4.2, 4.3, 4.5

125

126

4.7

Journey to
Planets

Brief Description
Use an origami paper rocket to travel through the large distances of our
solar system.

Keywords
Rocket
Origami

Materials
Template for building an origami rocket (Appendix)
Coloured square papers

Learning Objectives
Learn about the large travel times in space.

Background Science
We want to travel to the planets and get to know them more closely. Our
card game and the planets paths already told us a lot about the planets.
But we also need suitable rockets and surely have to think about how
long our journey will take.

127

Celestial
body
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto

Escape velocity
(at the equator)
[km/h]
15,480
36,720
40,320
18,000
214,560
127,800
76,680
83,880
3,960

Credit: NASA

Travelling to other planets takes lots of time. It takes slightly less than one
year to even reach our closest neighbour, Mars. Flying to Pluto would take
almost a lifetime: about 45 years.
To take off, we have to conquer Earths gravitational field. To do that, our
rocket needs to reach the so-called escape velocity. If we want to leave the
planet we visited and return home, we need to escape that planets gravity
as well. The higher a planets gravitational field, the higher the escape
velocity.
For the Earth, this escape velocity is 40,320 km/h, or 40 times the speed of a
plane! In the table above, you can see the values of all the planets. To leave
Jupiter, for example, would take lots and lots of fuel. However, since Jupiter
is a gas planet, you cannot land on it, so well never encounter this problem.
The four terrestrial planets have comparatively low escape velocities.
The direct flight times to individual planets are in the table below.

128

Destination

Distance
from Sun
[million km]

Distance
from Earth
[million km]

Flight time at
1000 km/h
[years]

Flight time at
40,300 km/h
[years]

Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto

0
57.9
108.2
149.6
227.9
778.3
1,427
2,869.6
4,496.6
5,900

149.6
91.7
41.4
0
78.3
628.7
1,277.4
2,720
4,347
5,750.4

17.08
10.47
4.73
0.00
8.94
71.77
145.82
310.50
496.23
656.44

0.42
0.26
0.12
0.00
0.22
1.78
3.62
7.70
12.31
16.29

However, matters are not that simple in practise. The flight paths to the
planets are much more complicated. Planets, the Earth and the Sun keep
pulling on the spacecraft during the whole journey. The following flight
times are more realistic:

n 6.05 years
Satur

Venus
9 years
0.2 3.5 mon
(c

hs)

a.

er 2.73 years
Jupit

Mercury
0.4 years
(ca. 5 months)

1
3.5 years
months)

Mars

0.7 .
(ca

rs
1 yea
Uranus 16.
years

ye
ars

30.6
Neptune

to
Plu

.5
45

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

129

Full description
Build an origami paper rocket with the children from the instructions
found in the Appendix.
Now hold a discussion with the children about what would be the
requirements for the rockets to travel to each planet, and how much
time each journey would take. Consider not only the distance to a
planet, but also its surface conditions. Which planets can we land on
(see activity 4.1)? How do we get through the asteroid belt that lies
between Mars and Jupiter? What happens if we change the speed of the
rocket?
Tip: This activity can also be combined with 4.6.

Credit: Natalie Fisher

130

4.8

Lighter or
Heavier

Brief Description
Calculate how much children would weigh on other planets.

Keywords



Gravity
Mass
Weigh
Planets

Materials
Paper
Pen

Learning Objectives
Learn about the influence of gravity on the weight of objects on different
planets.

Background Science
An astronaut carried out a very special experiment during a moon landing
more than 40 years ago. He held a feather in one hand and a hammer in the
other, and then released both objects simultaneously. Which one reached
the ground first? They both hit the floor at the same time! If theres no
atmosphere, the feather doesnt experience any air friction, just like the
hammer would barely feel any on earth. In a vacuum, all objects fall at the
same speed, regardless of their mass.
When astronauts landed on the Moon, they had a lot of fun jumping on the
lunar surface. Due to the weak gravitation, they could effortlessly jump very
far and high. They felt extremely light.
131

How much an object weighs on another celestial body depends on the socalled gravity acceleration. The higher this value, the stronger the celestial
body attracts this object, i.e., the more it weighs. Note that the mass of an
object is always the same anywhere in the universe. One kilogram of sugar
remains one kilogram of sugar. It just appears as if it had less mass on the
Moon, because it weighs less there. The Moon attracts one kilogram of sugar
with less force than the Earth does.
To see how much one kilogram of sugar and a child of 30 kilograms weigh
on the surface of each planet, see the table below.

Celestial
body

Gravity
acceleration
at the equator
[m/s]

Multiplier

Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Moon
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto

273.7
3.7
8.87
9.81
1.62
3.71
24.79
10.44
8.69
11.15
0.7

27.9
0.38
0.9
1
0.17
0.38
2.53
1.06
0.89
1.14
0.07

Example 1 kg
sugar
[apparent kg]
27.9
0.38
0.9
1
0.17
0.38
2.53
1.06
0.89
1.14
0.07

Example 30 kg
child
[apparent kg]
837
11.4
27
30
5.1
11.4
75.9
31.8
26.7
34.2
2.1

On the Moon, a child with a mass of 30 kg would weigh only 0.17 x 30 kg =


5.1 kg, while on Jupiter it would weigh as much as an adult weighs on Earth:
2.36 x 30 kg = 70.8 kg.
Other sources: An astronaut carries out a famous experiment on the Moon
with a feather and a hammer: http://goo.gl/TIvEI

Full description
Hand out the left two columns of the table from the background science,
with the gravity acceleration for each planet and the multiplier.
Ask the children to write down how much a child would weigh on each
planet, given that it weighs 30 kg on Earth.
Tip: Note that the surface gravity not only depends on the mass of a planet,
but also on its size. The bigger a planet is, the farther away you are from
the centre when you stand on its surface. Distance decreases the amount of
gravity you feel.
132

Related Subject Ideas

Arts
Searching for extra-terrestrials is exciting. What could they look like? You could ask the
children to draw their own versions of extra-terrestrials, or make clay models of them.

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Baking
You could also incorporate stories of the planets and other celestial objects with
astro-art on cookies.

Credit: Natalie Fisher

Credit: Natalie Fisher

133

134

Credit: ESA/ A.Fujii

The World of
Constellations
135

Introduction

On a clear, moonless night, we can see many


stars in a softly gleaming band in the sky. This
is the Milky Way. In fact, we are in the Milky
Way, and this band is a side view of other stars
in the same galaxy. Especially from September
until December, we can go searching for
wonderful phenomena in the sky, because then
Earths night side is turned to the Milky Ways
centre, where the largest concentration of stars
is. Except for the Milky Way as a whole, we can
recognise individual constellations across the
sky.

Credit: Cecilia Scorza

These groups of stars have nothing


to do with each other, astronomically
speaking, but they have been thought
to represent various figures throughout
human history. People saw a lion (Leo,
left picture) or a balance (Libra, upper
picture), for example.

Credit: Cecilia Scorza

Besides these official constellations, each


culture has its own constellations that exist
alongside the others. In Europe, for example,
the most famous constellation is the Plough.
It is not an official constellation, but part of
Ursa Major (the Great Bear). Depending on
which country one is in, the name can vary.
If we look at the stars at night, we will notice
that the constellations are not fixed on the
sky. They seem to move, like the Sun, from
east to west. For the Sun, we know that this
effect is caused by the Earths rotation around
its own axis. Exactly the same is true for stars.
To see where the cardinal directions are,
we can use a trick: the Polar Star is always
exactly in the north!
136

Officially, astronomers (represented by


the International Astronomical Union
(IAU)) have divided the starry sky into
88 constellations.

Polar Star

The Little Bear

Plough
The Great Bear

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

We know that the Earths axis is inclined by about 23 degrees with respect to its orbital
plane and exactly points north, to the Polar Star. Unfortunately, the polar star is a
rather weak star in the constellation Ursa Minor (also called Little Dipper). But there
is a trick to find it: we first have to find the constellation Plough, which is one of the
most widely known constellations of the Northern Hemisphere (see picture at previous
page). The Plough (indicated with yellow dots) is part of the constellation Great Bear.
Now, if we conceptually connect the two back stars of the Great Bear (marked red) and
extend this line five times upward, we arrive at the Polar Star in the constellation Little
Bear! As all stars of the Little Bear are weaker than the Polar Star itself, we can easily
recognise the latter.
Since ancient times, sailors have benefited from the Polar Star and the other
constellations in order to orient themselves at sea and find their way back home. The
height of the Polar Star above horizon corresponds to the geographical latitude of
the observational location. Actually, the Polar Star is the only star standing still on
sky, since it is located in extension of the Earths axis. This is purely by chance! On the
Southern Hemisphere, there is no polar star.

Credit: F. Char/ESO

A multiple-exposure picture taken from the top of the 3060-metre-high Cerro Armazones, the selected site
for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in Chile. Because of the rotation of the Earth, the
night sky is seen as it rotates around the southern celestial pole.
137

138

5.1

Visibility of the
Constellations

Brief Description
Determine which constellations are visible at night during different times of
the year by placing a banderol with constellations around the Sun and Earth.

Keywords
Constellations
Sun

Materials



Banderol of the Zodiac (Box)


Plastic planets (Box)
Plastic Sun (Box)
Paperclip

Learning Objectives
Learn how the constellations move across the sky during the year.

Background Science
In order to find constellations and other noticeable objects in the sky, we
now imagine as astronomers have been used to doing for hundreds of
years a transparent celestial sphere around our Solar System, on which
we can find all the stars and objects of the universe, no matter how far they
are from us. Note that in reality all these stars are at different distances
from us. The stars in a constellation seem to belong together, but most of
them are actually hundreds of light years apart from each other: they have
a somewhat similar location on the sky, but their distance to Earth can be
totally different. However, for orientation purposes, we depict them on one
sphere.
139

Polar star

Celestial Sphere

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Earths
axis

Aquarius

Scorpio
Libra

Earth

Pisces
Aries
Taurus

Leo
Gemini
Cancer

Virgo

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

The celestial sphere has two halves: a northern and a southern one. In order to keep
the picture easily understandable, we have only depicted Sun, Earth and Mars.
Not all constellations can be observed in one night. Some, like the Small
Dipper and Cassiopeia, are located near the Polar Star. They can be seen (in
Europe) during the whole year and are called circumpolar constellations.
Other constellations are only visible in certain seasons. For example, Orion
is a typical winter constellation in Europe, but in Venezuela it is a typical
summer constellation, where it is, however, more reminiscent of a butterfly
than a celestial hunter due to its rotated orientation! Which constellations
are currently visible depends very much on the observational location and
time. Of course, stars are also in the sky during the day. We just cannot see
them because the Sun is too bright. Only during a solar eclipse, when the
Sun is covered by the Moon, one could actually see stars during the day.

Full description
Put the banderol of Signs of the Zodiac in a circle on the blue cloth and
close it with a paperclip.
Put the Sun in the centre, with the Earth next to it.
Now ask the children which constellations they can see from Earth.
To answer this question, they first have to recognise where on earth
its day and where its night. Why cant all constellations be observed
on one night? The Sun always stands in front of a constellation, so you
cant see that one and its neighbours. After half a year the Earth has
140

travelled half a round further along its orbit around the Sun. Then the
opposite signs of the Zodiac get blocked by the sunlight.
In the situation sketched in the
image above, the constellations
Scorpio, Sagittarius and Libra
are visible in the night sky. The
constellations located in the
directions of the Sun, i.e., Gemini,
Taurus and Aries, are not. For
those to be visible, the Earth first
has to proceed on its orbit for
several months.
Tip: Of course, there are more
constellations that you can
observe than just the Signs of the
Zodiac. There are several methods
to find out which constellations
are visible at a given time,
e.g., star maps in astronomical
almanacs, turnable star maps or
the Internet.
Credit: Natalie Fischer

On the Internet, a free


programme (www.stellarium.
org) shows the sky at any time of
the day or night and from any location in the world. Projected with a beamer
onto a wall, the experience comes close to a real observation! You could also
use this programme for orientation on an observation night.
Related activities: 5.2

141

142

5.2

The Zodiac
and Planetary
Movements

Brief Description
Study the positions of the constellations with respect to the planets and the
Sun by placing a banderol with constellations around the Solar System.

Keywords
Constellations
Planetary movement

Materials




Banderol of the Zodiac (Box)


Plastic planets (Box)
Plastic Sun (Box)
Blue cloth (Box)
Paperclip

Learning Objectives
Learn how the planets move through the constellations during the year.

Background Science
Everywhere on the celestial sphere, stars and constellations can be seen.
On the orbital plane of the planets, there are 12 special constellations
on the celestial sphere, which we call Signs of the Zodiac. Actually, this
area comprises 13 signs: the constellation Ophiuchus is located above the
constellations Scorpio and Sagittarius. For historical reasons, it does not
belong to the zodiac. These constellations help us to find the planets in
the sky. Seen from Earth, planet Mars stands for example in front of the
constellation Cancer. But since Mars rotates around the Sun, two months
later we find it in front of the constellation Leo. So it wanders, as seen
from Earth, through the signs of the zodiac. Actually, all planets do that.
143

We would therefore never find


a planet in the constellation
Plough, because it doesnt lie in
the orbital plane of the planets
around the Sun, like the signs of
the Zodiac.
Exactly the same phenomenon can
be observed with the Sun: seen
from Earth, it is located in front
of the constellation Virgo in the
picture. But as the Earth moves
around the Sun, the Sun seems to
stand in front of the constellation
Libra one month later. This means
that the Sun also seems to go
along the signs of the zodiac. It
takes exactly one year to complete
one round.

Credit: Natalie Fischer

These motions of the Sun and the planets in relation to the constellations are
called positional astronomy.

Full description
Put the banderol of Signs of the Zodiac in a circle on the blue cloth and
close it with a paperclip.
Place the Sun and its planets in the right order within the banderol.
Note that the planets move counter-clockwise around the Sun.
Ask the children to describe the positions of the planets with respect to
the constellations behind them. The constellation being blocked by the
Sun is the one ascribed to a child whose birthday it was some weeks
before.
Ask each child to place the Earth and the Sun in the positions they are
on the childs birthday.
Related activities: 5.1

144

5.3

Planisphere: A
Turnable Star Map

Brief Description
Make a rotating map or a planisphere that can show the features of the
sky at any given time or date.

Keywords





Constellations
Sky
Map
Stars
Planisphere
Orientation

Materials





Planisphere Northern/Southern Hemisphere Star Map (Appendix)


Transparent sheet
Round split pin
Scissors
Glue
Colour pencils

Learning Objectives
Learn to navigate through the sky and find constellations using a
planisphere.

Background Science
A planisphere is a circular star map of the night sky. The star map contains
the brightest stars and constellations visible from Earth. The composition
of the night sky depends on whether the observer is on the Northern or
Southern Hemisphere and the latitude and longitude. A planisphere is
145

constructed to freely rotate about a common pivot point at its centre.


Planispheres usually have transparent windows designed for a particular
latitude and longitude to show only that part of the sky visible from a
given latitude; stars below the horizon are not included.
A full twelve months of calendar dates are marked on the rim of the star
map. A complete 24-hour time cycle is marked on the rim of the overlay.
The window is marked to show the direction of the eastern and western
horizons.

Months are on
the outer wheel

Time of day is on
the inner wheel

The center of the oval


is the zenith: highest
place in the sky

Note NESW
horizons are
indicated

Everything inside
the dark oval can be
seen in the sky

The edge of
the black oval
is the horizon

Credit: Uncles Al & EU UNAWE

Full description
Ask the children to make a turnable star map from the copy sheet in
the Appendix. You can find a plastic model in the Box. First, the children
should cut out the cover sheet and the star map.
Inside the cover sheet they cut out an oval shaped window. Note that the
shape and size of the spy window changes by latitude and longitude. The
further from the equator you go, the more circular the spy window would
become. The plastic model is suitable for the latitude of Europe (Northern
Hemisphere) and Australia (Southern Hemisphere). Depending on your
latitude, the children should cut out the window in the right shape.
Now, a part of the backside of the cover sheet is carefully spread with
glue and the overhead foil is stuck onto it. Please take care that no sticky
areas remain!
Then, carefully cut off those parts of the foil that protrude beyond the
edge of the cover sheet.
146

Both sheets are laid centred on top of each other with the script to the top
(the star map lies below).
Prick a hole just in the centre of both disks, and join them with the split
pin.
Now our star map is ready to use.
On the lower sheet, surrounding the stars, the months and days are
indicated, on the cover sheet you see the hours of the day (noon being
omitted). Furthermore, the cardinal directions are indicated around the
spy window.
Through the spy window we see the part of the sky that is visible. Each
constellation on the star map is named, its stars joined by lines and the
brightest star is also named.
Where is the Zodiac located? The children can colour it. If we turn the cover
sheet, other areas of the starry sky with different constellations become
visible.
Are there constellations that are always visible? Yes: for example, the Big
Dipper, Cassiopeia and so on.
Now, how do we correctly adjust the map? This is very simple: we need to
rotate the observational day (outer disk) and the time (spy window) such
that both indications exactly oppose each other. Then we have the right sky
section.
How do we have to hold the map? In the Northern Hemisphere, to begin with,
we search for the Polar Star. That is where north is. We turn in this direction.
Now we also rotate our map (without shifting the maps with respect to each
other) in such a way that we can read the word North the right way up.
Now, we hold the map with our arm stretched in the direction of the Polar
Star. You have to visualise the star map like an umbrella above our head. The
split pin corresponds to the Polar Star on the map. All stars located below the
Polar Star on the map are also below the Polar Star on the sky.
We can now turn in an arbitrary cardinal direction (think of Never Eat Soggy
Waffles! in a clockwise direction) we just have to also rotate the whole
star map such that the corresponding cardinal direction is readable on the
card the right way up.
Does one have to re-rotate the map in the course of a night? As the Earth
rotates around it axis, the sky also seems to rotate: new constellations rise
in the east and others set in the west. Thus, one would have to re-rotate
the star map repeatedly. But you will see that the spy window does not
significantly shift within one hour.
You may have noticed:
The sky section you have selected for a given date will also be visible at
the same time next year! The map works independently from the year.
147

You can also see the once-selected sky section on other days, you just
have to accept a differing time of the day (e.g. the sky section on 5 April
at 10 pm is identical with the sky section of 4 February at 2 am or 10
December at 5:45 am.
Tip: There are great apps for Apple, Android and Windows smart phones
that show the starry sky live. You just have to point your phone to the sky
area you are viewing and you have a star map with an indication of the
planets, stars and other objects on your display.

148

5.4

Constellation
Shapes

Brief Description
Make a model of a constellation and look at it from different angles.

Keywords
Constellation
Stars
Perspective

Materials
5 stars (Box)
5 wooden spits of different lengths
Plasticine

Learning Objectives
Learn how constellations form from a number of stars at different distances,
and that their shape appears differently from different perspectives.

Background Science
The constellations far away from the zodiac, in the northern or southern
parts of the celestial sphere, can be observed at any time of the year. For
example, in the Northern Hemisphere, one can always see the Little Bear
(including the Polar Star) and Great Bear. These are called circumpolar
constellations. Other constellations, closer to the zodiac, are only visible in
certain seasons, just like the ones from the zodiac. Orion, for example, is a
winter constellation on the Northern Hemisphere.
149

ars
Ye
ht
Lig

Credit: UNAWE C.Provot

In the figure above, Orion can be seen on the right. The stars in this
constellation appear to be connected somehow, but are they really?
The answer is given by the left part of the figure: no, they dont belong
together. They are just located in the same part of the sky, but if you
consider the distance from Earth as well, thinking three-dimensionally,
you will notice they are in fact far apart. The girl in the lower part of
the picture is standing on Earth and looking up at the sky. She sees a
constellation, because from her perspective all stars are projected onto the
sky sphere as one image. She cannot see that the stars are all at varying
distances.
The stars of a constellation do not all have the same brightness. The
brightest star of a constellation is called the alpha star, and always carries
a special name. For example, in the constellation Leo, the alpha star is
called Regulus, which means little king.

Which image people see in a group of stars in the night sky, depends on
the culture. Therefore, the names of stars and constellations reflect on the
history of past and present cultures.
The following table lists the names of the brightest stars of several wellknown constellations:

150

Constellation

Abbreviation

Alpha Star

Bootes
Greater Bear
Little Bear
Virgo
Leo
Aquila
Lyra
Cygnus

Boo
UMa
UMi
Vir
Leo
Aql
Lyr
Cyg

Arcturus
Dubhe
Polaris
Spica
Regulus
Altair
Vega
Deneb

Full description
Stick five stars on five wooden spits of different lengths and place them
on a table using plasticine, at different distances from each other, so
that from the front they form the shape of the constellation Cassiopeia.
Let the children have a look from different angles, from the front and
from the side, in a darkened room. What do they see? From the front,
the stars look like the constellation Cassiopeia, but from the side they
form a completely different shape. Apparently, constellations only have
their form because we look at them from Earths perspective. If you
could get in your spaceship and look at them from another side, you
would notice that the stars are all at varying distances from Earth: they
dont actually belong together!
Tip: Do the same activity with other constellations.

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

Credit: ESA / A.Fujii

151

152

5.5

Viewing
Constellations
through Stories

Brief Description
Read stories of the constellations and associate the stories with the seasons
by viewing the constellations through a constellation viewer.

Keywords




Constellations
Cards
Constellations viewer
Seasons
Stories

Materials
Constellation stories (Appendix)
Constellation viewer (Box)
Constellation cards (Box)

Learning Objectives
Learn about the stories behind constellations and their connections to
seasons.

Background Science
The images we see in groups of stars have arisen from human imagination
for thousands of years. The same is true for the names that we have
assigned to individual stars. They reflect the history of past cultures.
153

On the left picture, for example, we see a group of stars becoming visible
in summer. Some children see in them a dipper, a quarter note or a stiletto.
With the aid of the connecting lines on the right picture, it will be easier for
us to guess what this figure might be. Some children imagine it as a splashing
water hose, others as a slide, still others as a waterfall. So which is it?
The assignment of shapes to
groups of stars depends on what
is familiar to us. Female teachers
may see a high heel, while musical
children may see a note.

Credit: Cecilia Scorza

It is especially interesting to look


at and compare the constellation
names of different cultures.
What would a Native American
from the Amazon area see in this
group of stars in the sky? Surely
not a musical note! They would
probably see a water snake!
Natives from Venezuela see a
carrying basket for babies. And
what did the Greeks see in the
sky 3,500 years ago? They saw a
scorpion!

Credit: Cecilia Scorza

Full description
Even during the day you can practise recognising the constellations. The
constellation viewer is very useful for this purpose. A set of constellation cards
can simply be put into the viewer. These cards have holes at the positions of
the stars (lower left picture), with the diameter of the holes corresponding to
the respective stars brightness.
154

First, let the children familiarise with the stories about the constellations
(see Appendix). They can either read them themselves, or you can read the
stories to them.
Ask the children to assign the constellation cards to the corresponding
stories: the Andromeda saga, the story about the Greater Bear, the hunter
Orion, etc.
Every story contains constellations typical of a season: by partitioning the
cards into stories, the children also partition them into the corresponding
seasons!
Tip: A child puts a card into the constellation viewer. Another child is asked,
without having seen the motive of the card, to identify the constellation. Thus,
the children jointly practice recognising a constellation in the darkness.

Credit: Natalie Fischer

155

156

Appendix

Image of the Moon

Credit: Gregory H.Revera

Phases of the Moon

Credit: NASA

Man in the Moon


(Germany)

Credit: Cecilia Scorza and Natalie Fischer (EU-UNAWE Germany/House of Astronomy)

Woman in the Moon


(Congo)

Credit: Cecilia Scorza and Natalie Fischer (EU-UNAWE Germany/House of Astronomy)

Lion in the Moon


(Africa)

Credit: Cecilia Scorza and Natalie Fischer (EU-UNAWE Germany/House of Astronomy)

Rabbit in the Moon


(China)

Credit: Cecilia Scorza and Natalie Fischer (EU-UNAWE Germany/House of Astronomy)

Crocodile in the Moon


(Kenya)

Credit: Cecilia Scorza and Natalie Fischer (EU-UNAWE Germany/House of Astronomy)

Moon Stories
A Coat for Mr. Moon (Germany)
Once there was a tailor, whom people knew
for his extraordinary cuts. All gentlemen
and ladies of rank only went to him to have
their clothes sewn. One day, an exceptional
customer entered his shop: the Moon! I would
like to order one of those elegant winter
coats, which so many gentlemen on Earth
wear in winter and which originate from
this very workshop, he said. The tailor felt
honoured and immediately began to take
measurements. Round as a ball and shiny,
the Moon stood in the workshop and viewed
himself, while the tailor eagerly noted down
the measurements. In two weeks, the coat
was to be finished.
After 14 days, the Moon stood in front of the tailors
mirror again, this time with his new coat. But Oh!
What was this? Should the tailor have measured
him so wrongly? The coat was much large and hung
down from the narrow Moon crescent like a sack. This
was visibly unpleasant to the tailor, who promised
to immediately change the coat. The Moon was
measured again and two more weeks went by. When
the Moon was trying on his new coat again, he did
not believe his eyes: this time, the coat was too tight!
After all, how should a perfectly round Moon fit into
a coat shaped like a crescent? The Moon was very
disappointed and was just about to leave the shop,
when the tailor had an idea: he asked the Moon to
return another time, and this time he presented him
Credit: Marschak von Hans / E.Ernst
with two different coats: one that he should wear
when he was round as a sphere and one that he could wear two weeks later, when he
was crescent-shaped. Overjoyed, the Moon left the workshop and, in appreciation of his
services, the Moon had the image of the tailor with his portable sewing machine painted
on the Moons surface, where it can still be seen today.
(Retold from the book by Hans E. Ernst: Was will der Mond beim Schneider, Leipziger
Kinderbuchverlag GmbH, 2007).

Moon Stories
Rabbit in the Moon (China)
A long, long time ago, a fox, a monkey and a little rabbit
lived together peacefully as friends. During the days, they
went into the mountains, hunted and played there, and
in the evenings they went back into the forest to spend
the night there. So it went for many years, until the Moon
heard this and wanted to see it with his own eyes. So he
disguised and went to them, masked as an old wanderer.
I have hiked through mountain and valley and now Im
tired and hungry. Could you give me something to eat? he
asked, while laying down his stick and joining them.
The monkey immediately left to search for little nuts and brought them to him; the
fox gave him a fish he had hunted. The little rabbit, however, was very desperate,
because although it had sought everywhere, it had nothing to give the poor wanderer.
The monkey and the fox mocked him: You really are good for nothing. Now the little
rabbit was so discouraged that it asked the monkey to fetch wood, and asked the fox
to set it on fire. Both of them did
what the little rabbit had asked
for. Then, the rabbit said to the
Moon: Eat me! and was about
to throw himself into the fire. The
wanderer held him back and was
so touched by this willingness to
make sacrifices that he cried.
He then said: Everyone deserves
glory and recognition. There are
neither winners nor losers! But this
rabbit has given us a great proof
of his love! He took the rabbit
with him onto the Moon, where he
can be seen happy on the Moons
surface since that time.
The rabbit on the Moon (in the
picture on the left) is shown in an
embroidery on an imperial garment
from ancient China!

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

My Moon Observations
Name:
From:

Monday

Untill:

Tuesday

Wednesday Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Earth Mosaic

Sundial Part 1

Sundial Part 2

Origami Rocket
HOW TO MAKE AN ORIGAMI ROCKET:
1

Fold over, so that the opposite sides


are now exposed.

Fold over, so that the opposite sides


are now exposed.

10

11

12

Fold over, so that the opposite sides


are now exposed.

Bron: Magnolia Chocolait

Origami
Sail Boats

1. Start with a square piece of paper,


white side up.
Fold the paper in half, then open.
Cut the paper in half along this
crease.

4. Fold the two bottom


corners upwards to meet
together in the middle.

www.origami-fun.com

2. With one of the


triangles, fold in half, and
open.

5. Fold the bottom corner up to


the centre of the model
Then turn the model over.

Credit: http://www.origami-fun.com/support-files/origami-sailboat-print.pdf

3. Fold the top corner


downwards to meet the
bottom edge of the
triangle

Origami Boat

Finished Sail boat.


Now you can make
another one with the other
triangle!

Planet Card Game (Front)

Planet Card Game (Back)

Zodiac Signs

Credit: Cecilia Scorza

Zodiac Signs

Credit: Cecilia Scorza

Planisphere:
Northern Hemisphere
Star Map

Planisphere:
Northern Hemisphere
Cover (Germany)

Planisphere:
Southern Hemisphere
Star Map

Planisphere:
Southern Hemisphere
Cover (Brazil)

Constellation Stories
What the Greeks saw such a long time ago is immensely important for us, because most
constellations used in modern astronomy for orientation in the sky are of Greek origin.

Back then, 3,500 years ago, people sat outside in the evenings and listened to the stories
that old men and women told about the starry sky. So, children and adults learned the
stories of the constellations Greater Bear, Hercules, Cygnus and Aquila.
As the Earth orbits the Sun, different constellations are visible on the Earths night side
in different seasons. Thus, those ancient peoples told the stories that were appropriate to
their current season.
We have summarised some of these stories on the following pages (from the book C.
Scorza: Wie der groe Br an den Himmel kam).

The Great Bear (Spring)


Callisto was a beautiful nymph, who happily spent her
days near a well in the forest. One day she encountered
Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, amongst her
companions. Callisto was so enchanted by the beauty
of the goddess that she asked Artemis if she could
accompany her. You are welcome to come along with
us. But you will have to not to talk to anyone but me
and my friends, Artemis answered.
Full of joy, Callisto agreed and joined the singing
and dancing crowd. One day, Callisto became lost

alone in the forest. When Zeus, the highest of all gods, noticed the beautiful nymph,
he immediately fell in love with her. In order to get near her, the cunning god assumed
the shape of Artemis. And indeed, the nymph initially assumed that he was the beloved
goddess and cordially greeted the alleged friend. When Zeus returned her embrace,
Callisto saw through his foul play, but the god would not be rejected. And so it went that
the nymph was expecting a child some time after.
Although Callisto had broken her promise without being guilty, she feared being rejected
by Artemis. She hid deep in the forest, where she fed on fruits and berries. After the tenth
full moon, she gave birth to a son, whom she called Arkas. Hera, the spouse of Zeus, had
observed her husband and the beautiful nymph. Full of jealousy, she plotted revenge.

After the childs birth, she searched Callisto out in the forest and transformed her into a
great bear. From then on, poor Callisto strayed around lonely through the forests. She did
not join the wild bears because she was frightened of them, but she was also scared of
the hunters and their dogs. Most of all, however, she was saddened by the fact that she
could no longer look after Arkas.
Two women who found the baby took him to them and raised him. Fifteen years passed
and Arkas had grown up to be a stout lad. When one day he roamed through the forest
with his hunting dogs, he met the great bear by a well. She had a cub by her side that
she had borne in the meantime. Deep in her heart Callisto recognised her son Arkas. She
slowly approached him.
But the lad, who did not sense anything
about his origin and his mothers destiny,
feared the bear. He lunged out with his
mace and was about to hit her when
omniscient Zeus prevented the misfortune.
Full of compassion, he raised all of
them together to the northern sky as
constellations, where they have been
seen ever after: Callisto and her cub as
the Greater and the Little Bear, and her
son Arkas, who circles the two bears as a
herdsman with his two hunting dogs.

The Lyre (Summer)


A long time ago, there lived a famous singer named
Arion. His chant was so magical that he was able to
steer creeks and tame wild animals. On a long journey,
his arts had earned him many treasures. But now he
lingered after his home. So he boarded a ship in order
to get back home. But once the coast was out of sight,
the hungry and greedy seamen, who knew about the
riches, surrounded and threatened the singer.

Their leader was already lunging out with his


sword. Halt immediately, Arion called out in
fear of death. Let me at least sing a last song.
Yes, a song, a song, the rogues hooted. They
stepped back and Arion took his lyre. Hearing
the song that he was now striking up, one felt
one was hearing the valedictory chant of a
dying swan. It so much fascinated the untrue
seamen that they forgot their bad intentions for
one moment.
The singer used their heedlessness and jumped
into the sea. He feared he would drown. But as
if by a miracle, he did not sink in the waves but
soon found himself on the back of a dolphin,
who had heard his sad song. Full of gratitude,
the singer played his lyre. Even the sea quietly
listened to his beautiful chant until the dolphin
had safely brought Arion to the shore.
In memory of his arts and the miraculous
salvation, the gods raised to the sky Arions
lyre, a swan (as a symbol of his sad chant) and
the dolphin, where they remained ever after.

Ophiuchus - The Serpent Bearer (Summer)


According to Greek mythology, the god Apollo once fell in love with the beautiful
princess Koronis, who soon thereafter expected a child. When Apollo had to return
to Delphi, he left the princess a white raven, who was to take care of her. Unluckily,
Koronis fell in love with a stranger, which did not slip the attention of the raven. He
flew to Apollo and brought him the bad news in hopes of a reward. Initially, Apollo was
angry with the raven as the bringer of the bad word and turned his plumage into black.
Since then, all ravens have black plumage and are known as hoodoos. In order to restore

her brothers honour, Apollos sister Artemis


killed the princess with an arrow. When Koroniss
body lay on the stake, Apollo sympathised with
the princess. He wrested the child that she was
still bearing from the flames and handed it to the
wise centaur Chiron. Asclepius, which was the
name the father gave his child, learned the art of
healing from Chiron and became a famous doctor.
He could not only heal the sufferers but could
even recall the dead to life. This command of life
and death was the fate of Asclepius: because
the gods could not bear his power, Zeus slew
him with a deadly flash. To conciliate Apollo, he
transferred Asclepius, who had also prepared healing elixirs with the help of snake
poison, among the stars as a snake bearer.

Corona Borealis - The Northern Crown (Summer)


Once on the isle of Crete, there lived the Minotaur,
a monster that was half human, half bull, lived in
a maze and fed on human sacrifices. King Minos,
the gruesome ruler of the island, had defeated
the Athenians in a war. Thus, he demanded from
the Athenians to deliver him seven of the most
beautiful younglings and virgins, in order for them
to be fed to the Minotaur.
Theseus, the son of the king of Athens, went to
Crete voluntarily as one of these younglings, for he
wanted to free the people from the beast. But so
far, no man had been able to find to exit from the
maze. When Theseus arrived to Crete, Ariadne, the
beautiful daughter of king Minos, beheld him and
readily fell in love with him.
In order to help Theseus, Ariadne secretly gave him a knot of golden thread. The kings
son bound fast the end of the thread to the entry of the maze. With the crown on his
head and the sword in his hand, he faced the monster. The beast was so blinded by the
bright gleam of the crown that Theseus could defeat it in a horrendous fight. Now he
only had to follow the golden thread and so he found the way out of the maze.
After his return, Theseus took Ariadne to his ship. In appreciation of her help, he gave her
his crown and promised to make her his wife. But on the way back, the goddess Athena
appeared in his dream. She revealed to him that Ariadne had already been promised in
marriage to Dionysus, god of wine. And so, Theseus left sleeping Ariadne on the island of
Naxos, where she was soon to be married to Dionysus.

Hercules, Aquila - the Eagle - and Sagitta - the Arrow


(Summer)
Hercules was a human son of god Zeus, who was to accomplish heroic deeds on Earth. His
mother was queen Alkmene from Argolis. Zeus wished for the immortality of his son and
thus instructed god Hermes to secretly put the child to sleeping Heras breast: the godly milk
would make him immortal. But the little one nursed
so strongly that the goddess awoke of a sudden pain
and tore him from her breast. Thereby, her breast milk
squirted over the sky and so, the Milky Way was
created! Time passed and Hercules grew up to be a
strong man. One day, he learned from an oracle that
the gods would afford him immortality if he could
accomplish twelve difficult tasks for the harsh king
Eurystheus of Mycenae.
His last task was to fetch the golden apples which grew
in a sacred garden in the west. Four virgins, called the
Hesperides, guarded the apples along with a terrible
dragon who never slept. On his way there, Hercules met
Prometheus. Zeus had caused him to be forged to a rock
because he had once stolen the fire from the sky for
the humans. Every day, an eagle came and picked at
Prometheuss liver.
Hercules killed the eagle with an arrow and relieved the tormented of his agony. Full of
gratitude, Prometheus advised him: Go to my brother Atlas, who carries the sky on his
shoulders. He will help you to obtain the apples of the Hesperides. Soon after, Hercules
found the giant Atlas and asked him to fetch the golden apples for him. Hercules offered
to sustain the firmament in the meantime. Atlas agreed because he was glad to be
relieved from the heavy burden. He euthanised the dragon by stratagem, took the apples
from the Hesperides and returned with them to Hercules.
But now, Atlas did not want to carry the firmament on his shoulders any more. Just hold
it for a moment so I can recover, sly Hercules asked him then. The gullible giant agreed
and Hercules could make a move with the golden apples. After having finished the last
task, the gods admitted him in the circle of immortals.

Andromeda (Autumn)
Once in Ethiopia, there lived a gorgeous queen
called Cassiopeia, who was, however, very
conceited. When she sat on the beach one day,
she bragged of being even more beautiful than
the mermaids. Their protector, sea god Poseidon,
flew into such a violent rage over this that he
threatened to flood all of Ethiopia.

Extremely concerned, Cassiopeias husband,


king Cepheus, sent an envoy to the oracle; for
he wanted to know how to appease the god. The
oracles answer was gruesome; in order to evade
the flood, their daughter, princess Andromeda,
would have to be sacrificed to the sea monster
Cetus.
The parents were desperate. But the brave
princess was ready to do what the oracle
demanded. For her, the misfortune of her
country was more terrible than her own agony.
And so, on the same day she was forged to a
rock by the sea in front of the people.
While the rays of the setting sun
painted the sky reddish, Perseus
appeared among the clouds on his
flying horse Pegasus. The hero was on
his way back home; he carried with
him the head of horrible Medusa, the
sight of which petrified people. As he
saw the wonderful Andromeda below
him at the cliff, he first considered her
to be a lifeless statue.

But the wind ruffled through her hair and tears ran
from her eyes. Mystified by her beauty, Perseus
flew down and asked her: Who are you and what
fate chains you to this rock? I am Andromeda, she
replied through her tears, the daughter of king
Cepheus. As punishment for my mothers pride, I
am to be sacrificed to a sea monster.
The poor princess had just spoken these words
when an outcry went through the people. From
the depth of the sea, Cetus appeared, so suddenly
that even the fish tried to flee from the water. The
princess feared for her life. Desperate, the parents
clung to her shackled daughter.

Determined, the hero took to the air.


The beast already wanted to devour
Andromeda, when Perseus descended
rapidly like an eagle and stabbed his
sword into the back of the monster.
Wild with pain and fury, it fought back
but Perseus did not cease until it sank
dead into the waves.

Perseus released Andromeda from her shackles and brought her to the royal palace.
As thanks for saving his daughter, Cepheus allowed him to marry Andromeda. After
their marriage, Perseus and Andromeda lived together happily for many years until
their deaths. Cassiopeia lived as a very modest woman in those years.

Orion (Winter)
Once there lived a beautiful and fearless
hunter named Orion. One day, when he was
hunting in the forests on the isle of Chios, he
met the wonderful Merope. Orion fell in love
with her and wanted to marry her. Her father
promised to agree to the marriage, but before
Orion was to kill all the dangerous animals of
the island.
Orion immediately left. His two hunting dogs,
a greater one and a smaller one, joined him.
But instead of helping him with the hunt, the
cheeky dogs ran jauntily after a rabbit. All by
himself, Orion slew bears, wolves and many
other wild animals. Only a huge bull escaped
and hid deep in the forest.
After the successful hunt, he asked Meropes
father for the promised spouse. The father,
however, declined because he could still hear
the roaring of the wild bull at night. Upset,
Orion left the island. In his boundless rage, he
swore to kill all the animals on Earth.
This, in turn, incensed earth goddess Gaia so
much that she sicced a huge scorpion on Orion.
Fearlessly, the hunter attacked the dangerous
animal, but his furious sword thrusts recoiled:

the scorpions shell was harder than iron. Orions only choice was to flee. He ran as fast
as he could, but the scorpion came closer and closer.
The scorpion had already threatened the
hunter with his sting when Artemis, goddess
of hunt, transformed Orion into a constellation
and thus saved him from the beast. Today,
Orion is seen on the winter sky, along with
the greater and the smaller dog, a rabbit and
the wild bull. Even now, the terrible scorpion
chases him, but at a safe distance as a summer
constellation. Therefore, Orion and Scorpius are
never visible at the same time.

Credit: All illustrations in this section are made by Cecilia Scorza

Character figures used throughout the activities

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

Credit: UNAWE / C.Provot

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